An Interview with Dr. James David Adams
OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine Editorial Office 
LIDSEN Publishing Inc., 2000 Auburn Drive, One Chagrin Highlands, Suite 200, Beachwood, OH, USA
Academic Editor: Gerhard Litscher
Special Issue: Interviews with Leading Experts in Integrative and Complementary Medicine
Received: April 02, 2022 | Accepted: April 14, 2022 | Published: April 18, 2022
OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 2022, Volume 7, Issue 2, doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2202018
Recommended citation: Integrative and Complementary Medicine Editorial Office. An Interview with Dr. James David Adams. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 2022; 7(2): 018; doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2202018.
© 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is correctly cited.
Abstract
Interview with Dr. James David Adams. The skin is where pain is sensed and where chronic pain is created. The safest and most effective treatment for pain is topical plant medicines. Chronic pain can be cured with topical plant medicines. Transient receptor potential cation channels in the skin sense pain. Chronic pain involves a pain chemokine cycle. Monoterpenoids and diterpenoids from plants can stop this pain chemokine cycle and cure chronic pain.
Keywords
Pain; chronic pain; chemokines; IL-17; leukotrienes
Dr. James David Adams
Dr. James David Adams obtained a PhD in Pharmacology from UC San Francisco in 1981. He is an Associate Professor who is active in California medicinal plants and characterizing new pharmacologically interesting compounds in several different California plants.
1. What is Your Main Research Area? How did You First Become Interested in it? Is There a Particular Case Which Has Influenced You the Most?
I work on California medicinal plants, especially for the treatment of pain and curing chronic pain. My family came to America in 1635. My first ancestor was William Adams. He was a surgeon and was in charge of keeping the Puritans in Virginia alive. He learned medicine from the Indians because it was difficult to get medical supplies from England. Ever since then, my family has used American Indian medicine to survive. American Indians kept my family alive. After I got my PhD, I did what my family as always done. I looked for an Indian to teach me. I searched for many years and finally found a Chumash Indian Healer to teach me. She was my Teacher for 14 years. Before she died in 2012, I promised her I would continue to teach and practice Traditional Healing. She gave me many songs and stories to use in Healing. She also taught me about the Chumash Religion.
2. Which Topics are included? In Your Opinion, What Challenges and Developments Can We Expect to See in Among These Topics?
It is critical to abandon oral and injected therapies for pain and chronic pain. Opioids kill at least 93,000 people in the US every year. NSAIDS kill at least 55,000 people in the US every year. The safest and most effective treatments for pain are skin therapies, such as plant medicines. The only way to cure chronic pain is with skin therapies, such as plant medicines.
3. Considering the Progress in Your Research Area, Could You Please Share Us Some Hot Topics or Cutting-Edge Technologies in Your Research Field?
Pain research continues to ignore the importance of the skin, despite advances made in Acupuncture and plant medicines. Pain research is focused on the brain and brainstem as the sources of chronic pain. I continue to encourage other Scientists to consider the importance of the skin in pain and chronic pain. I have described the pain chemokine cycle in the skin as the source of chronic pain. In the future, cures for chronic pain will come from skin therapies that inhibit the pain chemokine cycle.
4. As an Experienced Researcher in This Field, What do You Consider to be Key Aspects of Research That Apply to Clinical Practice?
The release of chemokines, IL-17, bradykinin, prostaglandins and leukotrienes in the skin and interactions of these compounds with transient receptor potential cation channels are critical to pain and chronic pain. Therapies that inhibit these mechanisms are powerful pain relievers and cure chronic pain.
5. Do You also Offer Training and/or Further Education in Your Area?
I continue to teach Traditional Healing to anyone interested. I lead hikes and workshops to give actual hands on training.
6. How do Patients Benefit from Your Research?
I continue to learn from other traditional healers, including from Hawaii. My students, Michelle Wong and Enrique Villasenor, help me treat patients and educate the public. We have written a book, Healing with medicinal plants of the west, that provides recipes for plant medicines, instructions on how to use the medicines, safety issues and scientific references to back up our statements. We have a YouTube channel, Healing with medicinal plants of the west, that provides video training for the public. I maintain a website, abeduspress.com, that provides my schedule and contact information.
7. Let Us Know How You Balance Your Job with Privacy? What are Your Secrets of Success for This?
Many years of experience as a University Professor taught me how to maintain the proper rapport between myself and my students, which I also apply to my patients. I answer questions from the public that come from email, the YouTube channel, my website and other sources. My patients respect my privacy.
8. What are Your Future Plans?
In the future, I plan to continue to teach and practice Traditional Healing as I promised my teacher.
