Holistic treatment promotes an individual’s well-being by considering the various aspects of the whole person. It includes their body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Dr. Uma Dhanabalan, known to most as “Dr. Uma” is a medical doctor who advocates for this form of healing.
Dr. Uma’s approach to holistic treatment also includes alternate forms of medicine, including cannabinoid medicine, which incorporates cannabis as medicine. As you continue reading, you will discover how this remarkable woman has made a significant contribution to the Cannabis world.
Persistence Perseverance and Passion
At the age of three, she started her education in Bombay India, as a curious inquisitive child and would say, “I am going to be a doctor when I grow up.” This goal has its own journey and Cannabis as an alternative medical treatment was never part of her plan as a physician.
She immigrated to the USA at the age of eight and grew up in New Jersey. In 1979 after graduating from Livingston High school she traveled to South India and attended Madras Medical College in Madras India. She experienced multiple illnesses in her unfamiliar environment and returned to New Jersey.
In 1982 started her undergraduate at Rutgers and began medical school again In Newark, New Jersey In 1984, fortunately, or unfortunately, after multiple accidents, she stopped medical school in 1985 and continued working doing research.
In October 1987 she adventured and traveled Europe before rejoining her husband in India. She gave birth to her son in New Jersey in December 1988. In 1991 she revisited her goal to be a doctor and her family supported her wishes. She continued to work doing research part-time, raised her son, and succeeded in finally obtaining her Medical Degree in 1995.
Dr. Uma’s curiosity about cannabis as medicine began when her mother was watching a TV program in 2010 in Washington State. The program was about the use of cannabis in Israel for various medical conditions, including. COPD, asthma, lung cancer, and PTSD.
Dr. Uma Dhanabalan began researching and learning about cannabis, its history, and its uses in Ayurvedic medicine in India. The more she learned, the more she knew it was due to political reasons not evidence-based medicine, that the plant was federally illegal.
Her Mom had Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, IPF a form of lung disease, with no cure. Dr. Uma never had the opportunity to use cannabis for her mother! Following her mother’s passing in 2012, Dr. Uma developed a different view and realized that the choice to support medical cannabis was entirely up to her.
Dr. Uma’s mission to change the stigma about cannabis and for the world to know about the Endocannabinoid system through education became her purpose and passion in 2012.Dr. Uma began her new path by writing her first recommendations in Washington State supporting medical Cannabis.
She continues to pursue efforts in reforming the government’s policy on cannabis locally and globally. She runs an Independent Concierge Medical Clinic, Uplifting Health & Wellness in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she provides care for all ages and various conditions including palliative care.
She consults people all over the world and does recommendations for medical cannabis for patients in Massachusetts, Maine. Connecticut. New Hampshire, Vermont, Georgia, and Washington.
Academic achievements
After many years of research, study, and experience as a physician, Dr. Uma incorporates healing with the knowledge of the Endocannabinoid System and the function of Integrative Cannabinology as a Cannabinoid Medicine Specialist.
Dr. Uma’s bio includes the following academic achievements:
- Bachelor of Arts degree with High Honors from Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey
- Medical Degree from the UMDNJ- New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey
- Family Medicine Residency at the MUSC in Charleston, South Carolina
- Master in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts
- Occupational & Environmental Medicine Residency and Fellowship in Heavy Metals at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts
- Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians
- Diplomat in Cannabinoid Medicine – Certified by the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine
- Medical Review Officer – Certified by Medical Review Certification Council
Learning the true value of cannabis
In her pursuit of understanding cannabis and its effects on our bodies, Dr. Uma Dhanabalan learned its true value. The information about the bodies’ Endocannabinoid System (ECS), was never taught to her in her years of education. This is true for most healthcare providers even today.
Dr. Uma discovered how the ECS has receptors throughout the body that interacts with cannabinoids made within our body, Endocannabinoids, from the cannabis plant, Phytocannabinoids, and Synthetic cannabinoids.
The cannabis plant has multiple components, cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and much more. The incorporation of cannabinoids such as THC and CBD has led to many experiencing reliefs from various ailments. The ECS is involved in every disease in some way or another.
Learning the actual benefits of cannabis and the science of the ECS has helped Dr. Uma to realize that the stigma attached to this medicinal herb is political! Cannabis provides a safer alternative to many without many of the serious side effects and there have been no real toxicities related to its use.
She believes that we need more cannabis education and research, especially regarding its impact on the body’s ECS. Another one of her strong beliefs is we require proper education relating to safety and conscious cannabis use.
The medically and industrial uses of cannabis globally, Dr. Uma Says® “the plant is for the 5 P’s, people, pets, the plant for peace and profit, not just for our pets but the produce we consume, not just profit the jobs and money, but your health and wellness, you have one life one body.”
As a result, Dr. Uma has made it her mission to educate others and create awareness about “Cannabis as a Global Solution” ™ Once armed with this knowledge, users might avoid misuse, and people no longer need to experience the restriction on Cannabis that still prevails in certain states and countries.
Awards and accolades
Her passion and concern for others’ well-being led her to establish in 2006, Global Health & Hygiene Solutions, LLC, to “promote wellness & prevent illness.”
At her Independent Practice at Uplifting Health & Wellness in Cambridge Massachusetts, Dr. Uma, “Educates,Embraces, and Empowers” her patients and incorporates Cannabinoid medicine, as part of the holistic health approach.
Dr. Uma Dhanabalan has been actively advocating for Cannabis as a medicinal plant by speaking locally & globally at various events. Dr. Uma Says, “Open your hearts, you don’t have to you this medicine, yet you know someone who can benefit from it, open your minds, we all have an Endocannabinoid system, and this will open doors for better relationships between all of us.”
She actively participated in the legalization of cannabis in Maine, Massachusetts, and many other countries and continues her advocacy.
Another “feather in her cap” is her support in having criminal charges expunged of those affected by the “war on drugs.” In states where cannabis is legal, people are not aware they can have their criminal records annulled.
Dr. Uma feels so much compassion for these individuals who experienced the negative impact of Cannabis. A plant that has so many benefits for the individual and the world
These are a few of her other achievements:
- Founder and CEO of Global Health and Hygiene Solutions, LLC, and Uplifting Health & Wellness. They provide exceptional medical care which supports chronic conditions and mental health.
- Dr. Uma created The Total Health Care Model™, where she educates, embraces, and empowers her patients and incorporates Cannabis as a treatment option.
- An award from the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine for a research project, Impact of lead in South India.
- Educational Achievement Award presented by Clover Leaf at Cannabis Business Awards in 2017.
- High Times Award Inaugural 50 Women of Cannabis in the World
- An award from the 7th World Ayurveda Conference and Arogya Expo for her presentation of “Cannabis and The Therapeutic Uses.”
- International Advocate Award presented by Clover Leaf at Cannabis Business Awards in 2022
Dr. Uma Dhanabalan &Homegrown collaboration
Dr. Uma Dhanabalan may not be a cultivator, but she has a wealth of medical knowledge. Her passion for using Cannabis as medicine helps to bring health and healing to those in need.
Not only is she a phenomenal speaker but an author too, making her a fantastic addition to the Homegrown Cannabis Co. team. Dr. Uma Says® “Cannabis is an entrance to a better quality of life, an exit drug from pharmaceuticals, narcotics alcohol, and nicotine.”
Her spirit of perseverance and love for her work is what uplifts her patients and audience, bringing hope to many an ear. One of her famous quotes is that “Cannabis is not for everyone, yet it should be a first-line option, not the last resort.”
We are sure we will still hear much more from Dr. Uma in time to come.