Growing interest in kava for reducing anxiety (interview with Dr Sarris)

[TheKavaSociety]

http://www.radionz.co.nz/internatio...reasing-interest-in-kava-for-reducing-anxiety

My favourite quote: "The people I speak to in the Pacific Island nations, they always tell me how happy and relaxed they are. So they say what on earth is anxiety? They've never heard of it."

 

[The Kap'n]

Good find!

 

[Deleted User01]

I love that quote ... however .... bring them over here and see what happens when all their kids want iPhones and their wife wants to keep up with the Jones. Will they still be anxiety free when they get on the American Treadmill and try to big a buck? This is a question I have often "pondered". That being said, Kava brings my anxiety down plenty so there is no arguing with that.

 

[VictoryRider]

Nice article. I know there have been studies about kava's effect on depression as well. Germany, IIRC. Got positive results.
We don't hear much about that anymore... too bad.

It's too bad the article mentioned the liver scare without soundly debunking it.

 

[Rick.Sanchez]

I think one of the problems with drug development/discovery is the how hard we try to eliminate false positives. Something might benefit a significant portion of the population without seeing a statistically significant benefit in clinical trials. Of course, it's to prevent doctors from prescribing and pharmaceutical companies from marketing snake oil, but even if it's as little as 25% of people with an illness that will benefit from a particular drug, I don't see any harm in at least counseling a patient on considering it as an option. Especially when it's an option with far fewer side effects than many of its counterparts.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

I think one of the problems with drug development/discovery is the how hard we try to eliminate false positives. Something might benefit a significant portion of the population without seeing a statistically significant benefit in clinical trials. Of course, it's to prevent doctors from prescribing and pharmaceutical companies from marketing snake oil, but even if it's as little as 25% of people with an illness that will benefit from a particular drug, I don't see any harm in at least counseling a patient on considering it as an option. Especially when it's an option with far fewer side effects than many of its counterparts.

Well, Dr Sarris has already done clinical trails that have confirmed kava's effectiveness. I think he is probably reasonably confident that this larger study will confirm his earlier findings.

 

[Rick.Sanchez]

Well, Dr Sarris has already done clinical trails that have confirmed kava's effectiveness. I think he is probably reasonably confident that this larger study will confirm his earlier findings.

That's neat. I'll give it a read

 

[ThePiper]

I'm intrigued by kava's potentials as a mood stabilizer as well. I wonder if it could be a milder alternative to mood stabilizing drugs for people who have mild cases of depression or other mood disorders. I don't think Kava would be a good treatment option for a severe bipolar or suicidally depressed person. But for those who don't feel that their issues are severe enough to warrant the side effects of medication, Kava could be a godsend. It may also be one of the most viable benign treatments for insomnia

 

[Rick.Sanchez]

I'm intrigued by kava's potentials as a mood stabilizer as well. I wonder if it could be a milder alternative to mood stabilizing drugs for people who have mild cases of depression or other mood disorders. I don't think Kava would be a good treatment option for a severe bipolar or suicidally depressed person. But for those who don't feel that their issues are severe enough to warrant the side effects of medication, Kava could be a godsend. It may also be one of the most viable benign treatments for insomnia

It might even be useful as an add on treatment. Kava really seems to be panacea of sorts