TSC Talks guest Dr. Uma Dhanabalan is Founder/CEO, Global Health & Hygiene Solutions LLC, Uplifting Health & Wellness, Natick, MA. She is a highly respected physician trained in Family Medicine, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, specialized in heavy metals, a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a Cannabinoid Medicine Specialist and Medical Review Officer.
She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors from Rutgers University and a Medical degree from the University of Medicine & Dentistry in Newark, New Jersey. She completed a Family Practice Residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston, South Carolina and then her Master’s in Public Health and Occupational & Environmental Medicine Residency and Fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston Massachusetts. She is also certified by the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine and by the Medical Review Officer Certification Council.
She has received awards from the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine for her research project: “Occupational & Environmental Exposure to Lead in South India”, from The 7th World Ayurveda Conference & Arogya Expo for her presentation “Cannabis & The Therapeutic Uses” and the Educational Achievement Award presented by Clover Leaf at Cannabis Business Award 2017
She is the Founder/CEO for Global Health & Hygiene Solutions, LLC established in 2006, with a mission to promote wellness and prevent illness. She worked for Kimberly Clark as Regional Medical Director for Asia Pacific She worked for the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington, the largest and most complex cleanup projects in the world, where plutonium was manufactured for the first nuclear bomb detonated in Japan.
She created the TotalHealthCareTHC model where she “Educates Embraces Empowers” patients and promotes cannabis as a treatment option at Uplifting Health and Wellness, in Natick, Massachusetts. She is an advocate, activist, and educator and speaks globally about cannabis as a plant medicine. Her mission is to change the Stigma regarding Cannabis and for the world to know about the Endocannabinoid system through education” https://necann.com/news/speaker/dr-uma-dhanabalan/
Dr. Dhanabalan states: “Cannabis is not for everyone, yet it should be a first-line option not the last resort,” and “Cannabis is not an entrance drug, it is an exit drug from pharmaceuticals narcotics and alcohol.”
Meeting and talking to Dr. Uma was a transformational experience for me. She logically explains the evolution of her understanding of cannabinoid medicine, starting from an early age. Born in India, moving to the US from India at age 8 with her father, a chemical engineer and her mother, a mathematician and working in computer software, she was raised with a strong interest in science as well as a passion for understanding preventative health.
“I’m a family doctor, went to South Carolina (and) finished my practice residency, then I decided to do my second life which brought me back to Massachusetts to Harvard. Where I did my masters in public health because that’s where I really realized I had to go back to that calling of preventative medicine.”
She goes on to say, ” That was something that has been rooted in me, that’s never really encouraged in most doctors’ lives. You know, it’s always -make a diagnosis- what’s the treatment plan? What’s the ICD code that you have to bill with, and how many people?… La la la la la. That’s the world of healthcare. Ultimately, what people have to live with today. I was very fortunate also, not only did I have all of that as a background, I had a culture. My parents kept up with my language. I spoke five different languages when I came to this country.”
Dr. Uma discusses various experiences she had leading up to her “AHA” moment when she was with her mother who was dying of lung cancer for unbeknownst reasons, “she had seen a TV program and I could still hear her saying using ganja and I damn well knew what that word was. I beelined it and I heard her said they’re using it for COPD, asthma, lung cancer, PTSD, and I still remember that” From there Dr. Uma has gone on to become one of only 50 physicians certified to practice cannabinoid medicine in the United States. She was one of High Times’ top 50 females in Cannabis in 2019. I’ll share one more quote to wrap up this intro, with the 3 key facts she shares when doing public speaking, and often she is told by doctors that they just didn’t know this;
“number one, nobody, and I use the word nobody because there are no deaths ever in the world from this medicine. You cannot die from it. You may feel like you’re dying, you ain’t gonna die from it. Fact number two, the government has a patent number 66 35 07, issued on October 7, 2003, and it’s owned by the government. And it clearly states cannabinoids, not just one, cannabinoids, as an antioxidant. And guess what? A neuroprotectant. There’s nothing here about the developing brain. There’s nothing here about neurotoxicity. It says neuroprotectant, and they have known about it for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, dementia, strokes, protection of the heart. They have known about it. Fact number three, doctors had the liberty to write prescriptions because it was allowed. And it was in the United States pharmacopeia from 1852 to 1942.” Wow. Check out her website to learn more: http://totalhealthcarethc.com/
Dr. Uma’s Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008556311630
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drumasays
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.uma_thc/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-uma-dhanabalan-md-mph-faafp-mro-cms-02843040/
Other links:
https://necann.com/news/speaker/dr-uma-dhanabalan/
https://hightimes.com/news/honorees-high-times-female-50/
https://www.cancerschmancer.org/summit/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cannabinoid-medicine-rebirth-nature-dr-uma-dr-david-bearman/