 Ethnobotanist
Scholar Disputes Warnings On Kava
Posted on: Monday, April 22, 2002 Scholar disputes warnings on kava
By Jan TenBruggencate Advertiser Science Writer
LAWA'I, Kaua'i — A federal warning last month about the potential health
hazards of kava slammed the industry in Hawai'i and across the Pacific,
but a prominent ethno-botanist has said he doubts the claims of liver
damage.
Paul Alan Cox said he has seen no problems in native users. Jan TenBruggencate
• The Honolulu Advertiser
Paul Alan Cox, director of the National Tropical Botanical Garden on
Kaua'i, will lead a team of physicians and botanists to Samoa next month
to confer with native healers about its use.
Many South Pacific islanders use the drug, made from the roots of the
pepper relative Piper methysticum, recreationally and ceremonially. In
the West, kava is sold as a food supplement to promote relaxation and
ease insomnia, menopause symptoms and muscle discomfort.
During his extensive ethnobotanical studies in island groups where the
drug is used regularly, Cox said he has seen no evidence of liver problems.
"When I heard of the problem, the first thing I thought was, what other
things are these people taking?" he said.
Growers in Fiji have suggested the problem may be with chemicals used
to process kava for marketing. Native people generally use the roots of
the plant simply pounded with water.
Concerns about the drug surfaced last year in Germany, where officials
reported that as many as 25 people suffered liver ailments after using
kava — 'awa in Hawaiian — ranging from hepatitis to cirrhosis and liver
failure.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a consumer advisory March
25 that recommended seeing a health professional at signs of liver damage,
such as brown urine, yellowing of the skin and eyes, nausea, vomiting,
abdominal pain and light-colored stools.
The warning devastated the kava-growing industry. Some European nations
removed kava products from stores, while others issued warnings. The drug
company Merck announced a permanent halt to sale of its two kava products
in Europe.
Hawai'i growers said prices and demand have plummeted. Fijian government
officials are calling for an international medical inquiry into the claims
of liver damage.
Cox said the indigenous people of the Pacific have used kava longer
than anyone in Europe, and if there is a liver threat, they should be
suffering from it.
"I think the Polynesians would have figured this out if there were cases
of severe liver failure," he said. "I have lived in indigenous villages,
and I have not seen this kind of toxicity."
He said he would take a team of ethnobotanists and physicians to talk
to natives on Savaii in Western Samoa and the Manua island chain in American
Samoa.
"These people know more about kava than anyone in the world," he said.
If there is a toxicity issue, indigenous people may have developed specific
restrictions on kava use to minimize the risk, he said.
"I find that indigenous people are very adept at excluding toxic compounds,"
he said.
A recent study indicated as many as 50 farms on Hawai'i growing kava,
and a farm value of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The FDA did not ban the product, but cited European restrictions and
recommended that "persons who have liver disease or liver problems, or
perhaps who are taking drug products that can affect the liver, should
consult a physican before using kava-containing supplements."
Reach Jan Tenbruggencate at (808) 245-7825 or at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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