Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of North Shore
Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
EP #78 - Cannabis as Medicine: Dr. Ryan Zaklin on the Endocannabinoid System
Dr. Ryan Zaklin, founder of ECS Wellness in Salem, Massachusetts, is shedding light on the body’s endocannabinoid system, a natural regulator most people are unaware of. By explaining how our bodies produce their own cannabinoids to maintain balance, he offers a compelling alternative to relying solely on prescription medications. Dr. Zaklin, part of the Mass General Brigham network, blends conventional medicine with evidence-based cannabis therapeutics, debunking common myths along the way. His approach emphasizes that you don’t need to get high to benefit from cannabis, and in some cases, treatments may even be covered by insurance.
Dr. Zaklin's personal journey adds depth to his practice. Once a musician struggling with a repetitive stress injury, his life changed when he lost his father to cancer, which he describes as creating a "tinnitus of the heart." This experience shaped his compassionate, patient-centered approach to care. Now working with cancer patients, he’s helping make cancer a more manageable chronic condition. Whether you're dealing with pain, insomnia, or curious about balancing your health naturally, Dr. Zaklin’s integrative approach offers practical solutions, including how activities like yoga can boost your natural cannabinoids. Learn more and book an appointment at ECSwellness.com.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Yvonne Godfrey.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today we have with us Dr Ryan Zachlin. He is the founder and owner of ECS Wellness. That's located in the Salem Massachusetts area. Dr Zachlin, how are you this morning.
Speaker 3:I'm doing great. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm fantastic. Thank you for asking. Can you please tell our listeners about your company?
Speaker 3:Yes, of course. So ECS Wellness is a Mass General Brigham-affiliated integrative medicine practice that's located in Salem, but we are also virtual and we basically are. The concept of the practice is around the endocannabinoid system, or ECS, which is how the body, how the nervous system, regulates itself. Okay, so the nervous system regulates itself, so the nervous system makes what we call cannabinoids. We're making them and we need these cannabinoids to keep our homeostasis, or balance, as we make our way through the world, and so we have two.
Speaker 3:But unfortunately, our physiology and our technology have not kept up and we often don't have enough cannabinoids to maintain the balance that we need to live a peaceful, comfortable existence. So we have two choices we can produce more of our own endocannabinoids that we make, or we can supplement with phytocannabinoids from the plant cannabis, and that's our specialty. So we basically make recommendations to patients on how they can both engage in activities that produce more of their own endocannabinoids, like meditation, yoga, social connection. And then we also offer cannabis therapeutics, where we make recommendations for patients on how they can use cannabis to supplement their ECS efficiently, safely and effectively, and that includes cannabis certification for medical marijuana.
Speaker 2:Okay, so can you elaborate a little bit more on the backstory as to how you got into this business?
Speaker 3:Sure, I've always.
Speaker 3:So I'm a musician and I developed a repetitive stress injury and that led me to an interest in in kind of understanding what the root cause was and that got me interested in kind of a to heal myself and develop an interest in integrative medicine, for which I went to medical school for and it was as I was exploring different avenues and pathways that I could kind of carry out my vision for an integrative medicine practice.
Speaker 3:Medical marijuana had become established in and I learned about and I looked into it and I learned about the endocannabinoid system and I just made this connection that I realized that a lot of these integrative medicine modalities were really linked to the ECS and so the ECS was kind of became a real passion and interest of mine and that led me to this path to exploring cannabis therapeutics um and in um we were established in 2017. In 2020 we made the bold move of starting to uh take insurance actually for our services and then in 2021 we joined the mass general brigham network and we became also one of the mgb cancer center support services, and that's kind of the essence of our journey, how we arrived here.
Speaker 2:That's a pretty colorful, interesting journey, thank you. So what are some myths or misconceptions that you've discovered in this industry?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, one of the main myths is that you need to be high to use cannabis, and that's not the case. Even THC yeah, low doses will not cause intoxication. Another big myth that we're working on eliminating is the idea that you cannot use insurance for uh that, for cannabis therapeutics, and that is not really the case. Because we treat the condition, we're able to use insurance for our services.
Speaker 2:Many people may not be aware of that.
Speaker 3:Right, right, right. Yeah, I think that's, and I think that's one of the challenges that people you know we found that and even people when you make them aware of it, they almost don't believe it. But the reality is is the cannabis certification itself is not really covered by insurance. But really the reality is, no certification by medical providers are really covered by insurance. That's just, those are regulatory, bureaucratic documents that are part of the system, right? So that's how we're able to do what we do. If somebody comes to us for insomnia, let's say we're going to tell them how to increase their own cannabinoids, we're going to address their sleep hygiene, we're going to address their caffeine intake, we're going to see what stressors are happening in their life and then we will also make a recommendation for how to judiciously and safely use cannabis to effectively treat their insomnia.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's wonderful to know. Thank you very much for sharing that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So Dr Zach zachlan changing gears just a bit outside of work. What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:I'm a musician, so I like to play and work on my songs and, and you know, play music pretty much every day and then really, though you can, almost invariably they'll find me. My, my, my, my real joy is just to I call it lying where the dogs lie. I have my two dogs and I just like to relax with them and just connect with them, you know, go for walks with them, spend some time in nature. Beautiful, what kind of dogs. One is a black lab mix he's seven years old, and the other one is a purebred black lab English lab.
Speaker 2:English lab Beautiful, beautiful. So, Dr Zachland, can you describe one hardship or one of life's challenge that you rose above and can now say that because of it, you're better, you're stronger? What comes to your mind? What?
Speaker 3:comes to your mind.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, about 20, 21 years ago, I lost my father and that was, you know, to to metastatic lung cancer actually a non smoker, believe it or not too and so that was just a devastating blow to just my whole life and existence.
Speaker 3:Blow to just my whole life and existence and I think that really has led me to become a much more compassionate, understanding physician and now, especially, being one of the cancer center support services, there's a bit of coming full circle that I get to witness cancer becoming a chronic illness before our eyes. And so you, you know, it's the, the challenge of that loss and that grief that always sits there, that whole, that that hole in my heart I don't think will ever go away, um, but it's a lot smaller now and it's kind of like become almost like a I almost, I almost think of it as like uh, as like uh, tinnitus of the heart. You know, it's just, there's just this, always this ringing that's always there, this kind of sadness that I miss my dad. But, uh, I I've been able to understand what it means to wrestle with one's grief and what it means to live your life to its fullest and move on as a result, and and and always have him with me so many people can relate to what you just said, so it's heartfelt.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing.
Speaker 3:Welcome.
Speaker 2:Dr Zachary, can you please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about ECS Wellness?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I think that we would want them to remember that ECS Wellness is a place where your provider can help. You can make recommendations to help you achieve the balance and comfort in your life that you deserve, and we can do this. We are an insurance-based model, so you can use your insurance and we do practice cannabis therapeutics. So if you have an interest in how to use cannabis safely and effectively, ecs Wellness is the place to go.
Speaker 2:And how can our listeners learn more about ECS Wellness? Do you have a website?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. It's ECS W-E-L-L-N-E-S-Scom, so the ECSwellnesscom. There's plenty of information there, very easy and you can book online. Sorry.
Speaker 2:And very easy to remember. Ecswellnesscom. Beautiful, Beautiful. Well, Dr Zachlin, it has been a privilege and an honor to have you join us today. We thank you and we wish you all the very best in your business moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. We appreciate you. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPNorthshorecom. That's GNPNorthshorecom, or call 857-325-8000.