HELP!

[Noname]

Long story short I did enough brain damage to myself in childish high school days so how do I know kava won't cAuse brain damage? I know all about how it's non opiate and your brain functions normally on kava and all that but I need something legitimate to prove kava is sar I even read a 20 paragraph study on kava and it said its safe but I'm paranoid I don't wanna take any chances..

 

[EQ]

The moment you step outside your house you are risking being taken by a psychopath, being hit by a car, being struck by lightening.

You are always taking chances. The point is you have to try Kava to know for yourself. There is no reason to think Kava will damage your brain.
I feel less impact on my psyche and emotional well being from Kava than sugar, tv, magazines, mcdonalds, society, the radio.

 

[kavadude]

Kava won't cause brain damage. There is absolutely no recorded case of kava causing brain damage. It has thousands of years of use in the Pacific Islands to back this up. It might help with your anxiety, though.

 

[Noname]

I've tried many types of kava it's a great drink but I wanna be 100% sure

 

[kavadude]

There aren't any studies concluding "kava doesn't cause brain damage" because there's no reason to suspect that it does. Typically people are put on a regimen of kava and side effects that do occur are recorded. What I can tell you is that I've read tens, probably hundreds of papers and never once seen a single mention of kava-related brain damage. Where did you get the idea that this will happen from?

 

[Jerome]

That would be like trying to find a study that proves that moderate blueberry consumption is 100% risk free of causing brain damage.

 

[Noname]

Is kava bad for for you? Let's say later on they study kava again using a better method and/or more advanced technology and it turns out kava is bad for brain or anything like that i don't wanna take that chance I have enough brain damage and Health problems also marijuana was supposedly safe then later on a study cane out that said it "may" (does) causes brain damage and it was the same ppl who we're promoting it that did the study the American media wants us to be low self esteem dumbed down money wasters and they always promote toxic things like alcohol and tabacco so when they started promoting weed that's wen I knew it was bad plus media never mentions kava so thats a good sign but that's not enough I need someone to convince me it's not toxic

 

[Groggy]

There are tons of articles & links on this site, I suggest you read them, rather then I regurgitate it all.

 

[The Kap'n]

I've been drinking kava daily for a running 3650 days. I can say with some certainty that you can drink it for 10 years without it killing you.

Click the "New To kava" link at the top. Then click the "The Kavapedia" tab. After you're done going through that, you should have a pretty good handle on whether kava is safe or not. We try not to go out and make claims, but there is quite a bit of evidence to back up the statement that kava is safe.

 

[Vekta]

Kava, good 3000 years ago. Good now.

I wouldn't trust "the media" as far as I could kick it.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

I have been drinking kava for well over 25 years now and most every day too and I have no problems at all. I also know people who drink more than I do and for longer and they also have no problems.
The people of Hawaii and the south Pacific have been drinking it for over 3000 years and still, no problems. I hope this helps, aloha.

Chris

 

[Jerome]

I have been drinking kava for well over 25 years now and most every day too and I have no problems at all. I also know people who drink more than I do and for longer and they also have no problems.
The people of Hawaii and the south Pacific have been drinking it for over 3000 years and still, no problems. I hope this helps, aloha.

Chris

Man... I hope I live to be 3000...

 

[nhoeg]

What do you exactly mean by "brain damage"? I have never really understood this word. If it means that kava, the root, maybe could cause physical wounds in the brain, well then there is only one solid answer: no of course it cannot do this - and why should it? There would be no logical or scientific reason for this.

If a substance has a "bad impact on the brain", I think we should be careful about using the word "brain damage". It sounds very horrible and physical - like some guy cut a sword right through the brain. When talking about different drugs impact on the brain, I think it is important to remember how different people are responding to different substances. For instance, if a person has an anxiety disorder that has been triggered by a drug-experience, I would not call it "brain damage". I would rather say that a specific traumatic experience have had an impact on the individual and his/hers nerve system, subconsciousness etc. which has roots in the persons state of mind etc. etc. Brain damage as an objective fact from consuming a specific substance is nonsense IMO

 

[The Kap'n]

What do you exactly mean by "brain damage"? I have never really understood this word. If it means that kava, the root, maybe could cause physical wounds in the brain, well then there is only one solid answer: no of course it cannot do this - and why should it? There would be no logical or scientific reason for this.

If a substance has a "bad impact on the brain", I think we should be careful about using the word "brain damage". It sounds very horrible and physical - like some guy cut a sword right through the brain. When talking about different drugs impact on the brain, I think it is important to remember how different people are responding to different substances. For instance, if a person has an anxiety disorder that has been triggered by a drug-experience, I would not call it "brain damage". I would rather say that a specific traumatic experience have had an impact on the individual and his/hers nerve system, subconsciousness etc. which has roots in the persons state of mind etc. etc. Brain damage as an objective fact from consuming a specific substance is nonsense IMO

This is probably the best description I've heard in a long time. Very well said.

 

[Kavafied]

Long story short I did enough brain damage to myself in childish high school days so how do I know kava won't cAuse brain damage? I know all about how it's non opiate and your brain functions normally on kava and all that but I need something legitimate to prove kava is sar I even read a 20 paragraph study on kava and it said its safe but I'm paranoid I don't wanna take any chances..

My grandpa is closing in on 90 and he's been drinking Kava at least 3 times a week since forever. Time tested for sure

 

[verticity]

Drugs like PCP and ketamine actually can cause physical brain damage. But that is very unusual among all the psychoactives that are known. I have never read anything even anecdotally suggesting or alleging that kava can cause any kind of brain damage. Not only that, but kava does not cause physical dependence, so there are really no long-term adverse effects on the brain.

 

[verticity]

Off topic, the study suggesting MJ causes "brain damage" was highly questionable:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-marijuana-harm-the-brain/
The study only showed subtle differences between users and non-users brains, which are not actually physical damage, but probably temporary adaptations to being exposed to cannabis. The brain also adapts when it is exposed to medicinal drugs like antidepressants, but they certainly don't cause "brain damage".

 

[boxcar beatnik]

I read Somewhere years ago that kava is actually a nootropic. This means it actually improves brain functions. Anything non-toxic that reduces stress will improve brain function to some degree. Stress can really mess you up physically, i mean, It is a true silent killer.

 

[JKE]

What do you exactly mean by "brain damage"? I have never really understood this word. If it means that kava, the root, maybe could cause physical wounds in the brain, well then there is only one solid answer: no of course it cannot do this - and why should it? There would be no logical or scientific reason for this.

If a substance has a "bad impact on the brain", I think we should be careful about using the word "brain damage". It sounds very horrible and physical - like some guy cut a sword right through the brain. When talking about different drugs impact on the brain, I think it is important to remember how different people are responding to different substances. For instance, if a person has an anxiety disorder that has been triggered by a drug-experience, I would not call it "brain damage". I would rather say that a specific traumatic experience have had an impact on the individual and his/hers nerve system, subconsciousness etc. which has roots in the persons state of mind etc. etc. Brain damage as an objective fact from consuming a specific substance is nonsense IMO

There are substances that are widely known to cause brain damage. Alcohol, cocaine, and meth come to mind. Even marijuana has been linked to the shrinkage of certain parts of the brain (grey matter and some other part that helps the two halves of the brain communicate, there may be other parts as well), but they've not done enough studies to conclusively determine how the shrinkage affects behavior.

@verticity Maybe that's true, but the fact you said definitively that MJ does not cause brain damage and then suggested that the case is instead that the brain is "probably" just adapting to the effects of MJ signals to me that the evidence is not conclusive for either argument.

To the OP, I think your concerns are valid about potential brain damage from kava (I'm of the opinion that for the majority of substances, you can't expect to use one recreationally and not have some sort of long-term negative effects on the brain), especially considering that there aren't any studies that I know of that assess whether or not kava causes brain damage specifically (I don't think anyone has really ever asked, which is a good sign). I'd say that the number of people who can vouch for very long-term kava use would prove to a reasonable degree that kava is benign. My experience with kava would indicate to me that it would not cause brain damage because your mental state does not get altered very much with kava. If you were to compare the effects of kava with alcohol, which definitely causes brain damage with long-term excessive use, you'd see that alcohol fundamentally alters your mental state, whereas kava does not. With kava you just feel relaxed, warm, and pleasant. I'd say you should have no worries about kava.

 

[verticity]

There are substances that are widely known to cause brain damage. Alcohol, cocaine, and meth come to mind. ....

@verticity Maybe that's true, but the fact you said definitively that MJ does not cause brain damage and then suggested that the case is instead that the brain is "probably" just adapting to the effects of MJ signals to me that the evidence is not conclusive for either argument.
...

Yup, alcohol can cause permanent damage in the form of Korsakoff psychosis; I forgot about that one. I am more skeptical of the claims about cocaine and meth causing brain damage, but they are obviously very dangerous for other reasons.

About MJ: I didn't say definitively that it does not cause brain damage. I said the studies claiming to show that are questionable and that I am skeptical of them, because it is not known if the brain changes observed are reversible adaptations. (I would assume they are reversible, in the absence of evidence they are not)

For what it's worth, even though I live in Colorado, I don't personally partake of the Wacky Weed, because of mental health problems it can cause during use: anxiety, memory loss, depression, amotivation, etc... but I did vote to legalize it because I believe it is less harmful than alcohol.