Profile: Dr. Brian Nichol

UAMS graduate Dr. Nichol blends his anesthesiology background with forest medicine to create new tech. 

By Isabella Wisinger

Photography by BioDigital Therapuetics

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r. Brian Nichol has pioneered a technological fusion of Eastern and Western medicinal philosophies at his clinic in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Nichol is the co-founder of BioDigital Therapeutics, a local pain management center that offers drug-free healing modalities.

The doctor’s pursuit of alternative wellness began after he graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1991. He pursued an anesthesiology residency, became board certified in 1996, and then worked at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital of Little Rock as a staff anesthesiologist. After gaining experience at the VA, Dr. Nichol transferred into the private sector, participating in one-day surgery center operations and often working as an anesthesiologist at orthopedic centers, where demand was the greatest. His knack for finding the right intersection between pharmacology and physiology led Nichol to open his own pain management practice in 1999.

What Dr. Nichol began to notice was that his patients who tested positive for THC on mandatory drug screenings required less medications at lower doses compared to his patients who tested negative for THC. The literature on the medical efficacy of cannabis was not strong at the time, but through his own experience observing patients, Nichol began to develop the opinion that plant medicine might deserve equal consideration in the realm of pain management. He was inspired to research more about cannabis and the lesser-understood compounds it contained, called terpenes.

Through his research and collaboration with other practitioners, Nichol learned about the Japanese concept of forest bathing (immersing oneself in nature to promote well-being). He took note of studies that highlighted the decrease in cortisol, cancer, and blood pressure in people who regularly practiced forest bathing, and understood that high levels of terpenes produced by forest canopies were responsible for the positive study results. Dr. Nichol then made the connection that his patients who were exposed to terpenes through cannabis usage had similarly improved health outcomes. This realization marked the beginning of a new venture into the world of bio-hacking technology.

Dr. Nichol partnered with like-minded medical inventor Michael Kaczkowski to invent several “bio-digital” wellness therapies, one of the most notable being the BlissThera machine. BlissThera relies on Dr. Nichol and colleague’s years of data collection on hundreds of terpenes and their effects on the human body via the endocannabinoid system. The doctor shared that BlissThera works through nebulization, turning distilled terpenes into atomized mist that can be administered the same way a breathing treatment would be in a hospital. The therapy simulates the effects of forest bathing through exposure to highly concentrated levels of terpenes, which are selected to target specific health conditions. Patients can reap the benefits of forest bathing in an urban setting, but in an even more effective way, because the terpene profiles are tailored to their biology.

BlissThera has so far been used for hundreds of patients in thousands of treatment sessions. Dr. Nichol said that its applications are incredibly diverse- he sees professional athletes looking to improve their performance, cancer patients seeking relief from the effects of chemotherapy, and veterans affected by PTSD. By working with one veteran in particular for over ten years, Dr. Nichol developed the first ever terpene protocol designed for treating PTSD. The veteran, previously dependent on Valium, became pharmaceutical free and was able to return to family life as he had before serving in the military. That man was just one success story of many- Dr. Nichol reported that upwards of eighty percent of all patients experience an abate of their symptoms and improvement in their quality of life after trying BlissThera. He confirmed that there are no negative side effects of the modality, either. “It’s unlike anything I’ve had access to in traditional medicine,” said Nichol.

Thanks to the passage of the Farm Bill in 2018, Dr. Nichol’s practice has expanded with the ability to consult on medical marijuana usage for his patients. He extolled the benefits of medical marijuana, but didn’t elevate the plant above its peers: “Cannabis is just another plant. There’s nothing special about it except how effective it is,” he stated, referring to the cannabinoid and terpene profiles found in cannabis.