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Heidi Sykora, DNP

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Heidi Sykora, DNP

A retired nurse practitioner, former health care executive, and the volunteer chief scientific officer of the International Plant and Herbal Alliance.

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About

Heidi Sykora is a retired nurse practitioner, former health care executive, and the volunteer chief scientific officer of the International Plant and Herbal Alliance. Her writing and advocacy focus on evidence-based interventions that improve patient outcomes and experiences.

Her career has encompassed clinical education, public health policy, and regulatory reform, with special emphasis on misinformation, caregiver support, and safe access to plant-based and alternative therapies. She has also written policy advocacy articles through the American Kratom Association.

Her published work spans clinical research, continuing education, book chapters, and public health commentary, with recent contributions appearing in Home Healthcare Now, the Chicago Daily Herald, and Nursing CE Central. A representative sample includes "The case for regulating, not banning, kratom," "A custodian helped this nurse manage a patient with hospital delirium," and "Rural Family Caregiving: When Resources Are Scarce," her chapter in 10 Nursing Interventions for Family Caregivers: Guide to Best Practices in Adult-Gerontology Patient Care.

Professional updates and advocacy work are available on LinkedIn.

On The Podcast by KevinMD

Latest articles

Health policy

Opioid settlement funds reward fewer pills, not less pain

2

Somewhere along the way, the patient stopped being the point. A patient who was stable A year ago this month, 74-year-old Martha was stable. She lives with osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, multiple joint replacements, and chronic anxiety. Even so,…

Somewhere along the way, the patient stopped being the point.

A patient who was stable

A year ago this month, 74-year-old Martha was stable. She lives with osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, multiple joint replacements, and chronic anxiety. Even so, she was functioning. Her pain was controlled on a low, unchanged dose of oxycodone that she had taken responsibly for more than five years.

At her annual visit, everything changed. Her primary care …

Read more…

Opioid settlement funds reward fewer pills, not less pain

Health policy

Kratom bans confuse the leaf with a semisynthetic opioid

Consider what happened in Walker County, Georgia, in the fall of 2025. Multiple middle schoolers became ill after eating gummies at school, though even the eventual headcount was never fully settled, with local reports ranging from three to five students.…

Consider what happened in Walker County, Georgia, in the fall of 2025. Multiple middle schoolers became ill after eating gummies at school, though even the eventual headcount was never fully settled, with local reports ranging from three to five students. Emergency room physicians diagnosed a kratom overdose based on the clinical picture, and within hours the story was national: Kratom gummies had hospitalized children. Investigators collected one of the gummies …

Read more…

Kratom bans confuse the leaf with a semisynthetic opioid

Drugs and prescribing

The case for regulating, not banning, kratom

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) has become a topic of significant debate among clinicians, policymakers, and the public due to differing views on its safety, pharmacology, and regulatory requirements. A recent article raises important concerns about kratom's pharmacological actions, potential for addiction,…

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) has become a topic of significant debate among clinicians, policymakers, and the public due to differing views on its safety, pharmacology, and regulatory requirements. A recent article raises important concerns about kratom’s pharmacological actions, potential for addiction, psychiatric risks, and regulatory challenges. Although the goal of protecting public health is admirable, it is crucial that discussions around kratom are rooted in current scientific evidence and avoid …

Read more…

The case for regulating, not banning, kratom

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