Doctors warn against popular plant supplement that turns people’s skin BLUE and is linked to spate of deaths

Doctors are warning Americans about the health risks of an increasingly popular dietary supplement that’s been linked to a spike in deaths and may even change skin color.

Kratom first gained popularity in the United States as a treatment for opioid withdrawal, but more recently has become popular as a dietary supplement for anxiety and stress.

But extracts from the plant’s leaves, which are sold at health food stores and gas stations for around 20 cents a pill, have been linked to a variety of serious side effects, including seizures, hallucinations and serious addiction.

There have also been several reported deaths from taking this supplement.

Now, doctors have noticed a rise in cases and are warning again that the supplement can also change the color of patients’ skin — a change that can last for months even after the supplement has been stopped, they say.

Among those affected was a 30-year-old man who sought medical attention in Kansas after the skin on his cheeks, the back of his neck, the backs of his hands and forearms turned a dark grayish-blue color.

The patient had been taking kratom for five years without any issues until his skin suddenly changed color, and it has remained blue for 16 months since he stopped taking the supplement.

He began taking kratom daily to help ease the opioid addiction he developed after graduating from high school.

Dr. Heather Woolley-Lloyd, a dermatologist at the University of Miami, Medscape: “You’re going to see more and more of this.”

“Many of our patients consider kratom a safe herbal supplement, but they often don’t know that it has several side effects and can be addictive.”

The supplement is made from the leaves of the Southeast Asian rainforest tree of the same name and has been used by Cambodian, Thai and other cultures since at least the 19th century.

Kratom can be boiled into a tea, smoked, chewed, mixed into a drink, or placed in capsules, and many people take it daily to help them get off opioids.

The FDA has warned against taking the supplement, saying it has not been approved for any use in the United States.

But data suggests that use of the supplement, also known online as a “legal opioid” and “legal high,” continues to grow.

Data Source According to the U.S. National Poison Data System, there were just 11 reported cases of kratom poisoning in 2011.

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But in the first seven months of 2018 alone, that figure jumped to 357.

A 2021 survey estimated that 1.7 million Americans take supplements to help alleviate opioid addiction.

Drugs such as methadone and naltrexone are used to treat opioid addiction, but they have side effects including constipation, headaches, sweating and insomnia, leaving many people seeking alternatives.

It’s not clear why kratom turns a person’s skin blue, but scientists have previously suggested that the supplement may increase dopamine levels, which boosts melanin production and causes darker spots to appear.

It’s also possible that the supplements may form deposits around your blood vessels that could be causing the blue spots, or that impurities in the supplement could be the cause.

Blue skin only appears in areas exposed to sunlight and is also associated with increased melanin production.

This is different from the blue skin that occurs in a condition called cyanosis, in which the skin changes color due to a lack of oxygen in the blood.

in The incident came to light in February In one case, a 30-year-old man who visited a doctor in Kansas earlier this year said he had started using kratom to treat an opioid addiction.

He told doctors he had been taking kratom for four and a half years before the discoloration occurred, and that it appeared quickly.

He started taking kratom for an opioid addiction but had no other medical conditions and was not taking any other drugs or supplements that could cause the appearance of blue skin.

in Another case in 2022A 54-year-old man who visited a doctor in Washington state also revealed that his skin had turned blue while taking kratom.

He said pigmentation gradually appeared on the sun-exposed areas of his arms and face.

He also took kratom with orange juice three to four times a day for five years to treat his opioid addiction.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed banning kratom in 2017, listing it as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, marijuana, and LSD.

However, the plan was later abandoned after widespread protests against the move in many US cities.

An estimated 2.1 million Americans currently suffer from opioid addiction.