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The Future of CBD Drugs

For several years now, there’s been a tremendous buzz around CBD or Cannabidiol. Global consumers used to be widely wary of using CBD-based products for medicinal purposes. The taboo around it being “weed” and not a medical-grade drug caused many people to steer clear of it. However, with further advanced research and development in the field of CBD, researchers were able to prove its thorough effectiveness in relieving symptoms in a wide range of diseases and syndromes.

The one contributing factor that helped companies bust the myth around CBD-based products was to explain to their consumers that it is non-psychoactive. This means that continued intake of CBD-based products like injectables, ingestible oils, pills or usage of CBD-based products like pain relief sprays, pain relief roll-ons, CBD body oils, facial serums, face oils, pain relief creams, pain relief oils, anti-acne creams, will not cause you to get addicted to them or form a habit. CBD-based products are just like any other medicinal drug which you can stop using whenever they wish to.

Plus, it has also been estimated that the global market valuation of the CBD oil industry could go up to 22,07,162.54 million USD by 2026. However, even with the legalization of the products in numerous cities and countries, it remains a topic of hot discussion. Even till date, CBD-based products are widely marketed and sold as food supplements and not medicinal products that can take care of a disease or a condition. To be able to realize the potentially powerful future of CBD drugs, let’s first recognize the medical benefits that it does offer.

Current medical applications of CBD drugs

The most significant benefit of CBD drugs in pain relief. A study from Neuropharmacology, as well as a study published in the European Journal of Pain, proves the positive effects of CBD in dealing with inflammation and pain, especially related to your bones and muscles. In patients suffering from arthritis and related body pain issues, CBD drugs have shown drastically positive results. CBD drugs have also helped relieve symptoms of depression, anxiety, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and insomnia. It has helped patients regulate their mood (without being habit-forming), regulate their sleep, and also manage their appetites.

CBD drugs have also been found to be increasingly effective in reducing the number of seizures experienced by an epilepsy patient. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that CBD drugs were highly influential in dealing with seizure symptoms. This is an exceptionally powerful use of CBD drugs since there are numerous epilepsy patients for whom anticonvulsant medicines are non-effective. These patients can ask their doctors to recommend CBD drugs that can help them deal with the condition better.

Apart from these, CBD drugs have shown tremendous applications in cancer care as well. A number of studies, including the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, and a study by Vanderbilt University, shows that CBD drugs not only help in managing pain in a cancer patient but can also help the breakdown of cancer cells in the body. This effectively means that CBD can further the autophagy or destruction of tumor cells in a cancer patient, thus helping eliminate cancer from the body altogether. They have even been used in patients suffering from skin, pancreas, brain, and breast cancer.

What’s interesting about the use of CBD drugs in cancer care is that it has not only proven to be significantly powerful in killing cancer cells but also in a supported capacity. Cancer treatment methods such as radiation and chemotherapy can induce nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and a great deal of pain. CBD drugs offer relief from the feeling of nausea, reduce the instances of vomiting, help increase the patient’s appetite, and also lower pain and inflammation level. As far as the application of CBD body oils, facial serums, and face oils go, they are highly beneficial in reducing signs of aging, protecting the skin from sun damage and making it healthy overall.

The future potential of CBD drugs

Even though the progress of CBD drugs in the medicine market has been slow and restricted, continued research has brought forth recognized clinical data that has pushed its popularity further in the market. CBD drugs mostly have potential in two areas – firstly, as a supplement for pain relief, inflammation relief, and relaxant, and secondly, as a sole medicine to relieve symptoms and treat illnesses. It is expected that in the near future, CBD drugs would be used as mainstream supplements that are widely prescribed by doctors as single-purpose medicine. This, however, still requires a tremendous amount of research, adaptation, and awareness.

If people continue to be wary of using CBD for medicinal purposes, no amount of research and development will make people trust the effectiveness of the product. Raising awareness, coupled with advanced research, will also help CBD drugs to be used as a mainstream medicine for core illnesses like cancer, glaucoma, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, PTSD, gastrointestinal troubles, and even severe brain trauma and injury. This could mark a big breakthrough for diseases and syndromes that are often overlooked or which haven’t had any important advancements for several years now.

While the road to CBD drugs becoming a mainstream medicinal drug is still long and complicated, its near future does have a promising stand in the market. It won’t be long when pain relief sprays, pain relief roll-ons, pain relief creams, and pain relief oils would become a staple in dealing with and reducing levels of pain and inflammation. Plus, CBD-based products such as CBD body oils, facial serums, face oils, and anti-acne creams have tremendous potential in the cosmetic industry as well. Whether we talk about its potential in acting as a powerful sunscreen or in dealing with acne, aging, uneven skin tone, dark spots, and dull skin, CBD has continually shown tremendous results. This also paves the way for CBD drugs to be used as a post-op care option for plastic surgery.

Reconstructive cosmetic surgery – whether in case of grave injuries or aesthetic reasons – requires a lot of post-op care. Patients need to take drugs continuously to prevent any infections at the site of incision and deal with and regulate the pain, inflammation, and swelling. Drugs prescribed for these purposes, especially for pain relief, are sometimes habit-forming and can cause the patient to get addicted to them even for long after the recovery. However, since CBD drugs are not habit-forming and are incredibly effective, they have a high potential to be used for such purposes.

In the future, the application of CBD drugs is expected to be of tremendous help in the following diseases:

• Multiple forms of cancer
• Diabetes
• Brain trauma
• Atherosclerosis
• Parkinson’s
• Auto-immune disorders
• Reducing heart attack risk
• Promoting bone growth
• Lupus
• Viral infections

Other factors that contribute to the growth of CBD drugs

While the application of CBD drugs in medicine has been widely tested and is still being researched heavily, there are certain factors that contribute to its rapid growth. A strong suit for the growth of CBD drugs is its availability in multiple forms. Traditionally, patients don’t have a lot of options in how they would like to take a medicine or a drug. In patients who have tremendous trouble in ingesting pills or taking medicine via injections, not a lot of options are left to try. CBD products, on the other hand, are available in multiple forms.

• CBD drug topicals can be applied directly to the skin since they get readily absorbed and are quickly transported to the target cells. This is especially useful in cases of pain, inflammation, and skin disorders.
• CBD edibles are available as gummy bears or chocolates which can be easily ingested. Older patients or little children who have a lot of trouble in ingesting pills can greatly benefit from this.
• CBD capsules are beneficial for those who are allergic to standard pain relief drugs. These capsules offer quick relief from pain and inflammation and are also more easily ingested than traditional pills.
• CBD oromucosal drugs are directly sprayed into the patient’s mouth. The mucous linings in our mouth can quickly absorb these drugs and transport them to target cells, tissues, or organs very readily.
• CBD intranasal drugs are another alternative for patients. They can be easily inhaled by patients without having to ingest anything. This again offers quick absorption owing to the mucous linings in our nose.
• CBD tinctures are another popular form of CBD drugs that can be introduced into the body as drops under the patient’s tongue. This way, even though the drugs are ingested via the mouth, the patient doesn’t have to swallow any hard pills.

While CBD drugs can be used by patients in several forms, as mentioned above, another powerful characteristic feature of it is that there are no risks of an overdose. It is effective in most patients at a comparatively low concentration than traditional medicines and drugs, and thus, there is no requirement to manufacture it in high concentrations in the first place. Numerous patients have reacted badly to high doses of medicines during the course of their treatment. However, with CBD drugs in the picture, this risk is reduced significantly. To date, there has been no evidence of an overdose due to CBD drugs.

What steps can help further the CBD drugs market?

CBD drugs had long been considered to have severe side effects like “getting high” or getting addicted to them. This myth was easily busted by educating people and raising awareness about the fact that it’s, in fact, not. The psychoactive component that gets people “high” or causes them to make a habit is present in trace amounts in CBD products. This means that the continued usage of CBD drugs will neither get you to become “high” nor will you form a habit of it. To be able to further the cause of CBD drugs and help others benefit from its many positive effects on the human body, raising awareness is crucial.

This awareness will also help government regulatory bodies to build substantial evidence towards legalizing CBD drugs. Legalization also helps people realize that CBD drugs are safe and effective. The possibility of further legalization is made stronger because of recent approval from the FDA for a CBD drug named Epidiolex. This medically-licensed product is now being used to treat a few specific types of epilepsy. It helps reduce the number of seizures in an individual and also enables them to control the spasms in their body. The approval of one CBD-based drug to treat such a serious medical condition paves the way for other such CBD drugs to be developed and approved by legal bodies.

Conclusion

The benefits and advantages that CBD drugs offer are monumental and can, without a doubt, revolutionize the face of the medical industry. However, the stigma associated with it has hampered its market growth and consumer adoption to a large extent. While the mainstream adoption of CBD drugs by healthcare professionals and institutions is still a long way to go presently, we shouldn’t be worried about it being shunned altogether. The FDA has already approved Epidiolex, and it wouldn’t be long before more CBD drugs are developed, tested, and approved.

Since it is still an untapped market with numerous organizations gearing to further R&D and launch better and improved CBD-based products, only the ones that offer high-quality will be able to withstand the market in the long run. However, even with the FDA’s approval of one single drug, they require more thorough research into the functioning and effects of CBD to be able to approve large scale usage and adoption of the products by physicians, hospitals, and others. The path to full-scale adoption has already begun with the small step taken towards using CBD-based products as supplements or alternatives for pain relief and management. It won’t be long before we begin to witness the benefits of CBD drugs, especially in medical conditions where traditional medicine has failed to bring any significant results.