Over the past decade, CBD has emerged as a potential treatment for a variety of diseases.
CBD has potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and various other therapeutic properties. Hence, many studies have suggested that it can help with chronic pain management, insomnia, epilepsy, and many other conditions.
Bedridden patients, in particular, are faced with a lot of difficulties. Whether it’s a traumatic brain injury or an autoimmune disease that straps them to a single spot. A slew of medical problems, from intense pain and depression to rapid bone degeneration, complicate their recovery.
Fortunately, burgeoning scientific research suggests that CBD can make their lives easier. Multiple studies have shed light on CBD’s ability to combat many conditions prevalent in bed-redden patients. This is also one reason why CBD has been touted as a viable medication for palliative care patients.
Let’s explore how CBD can help bedridden patients manage their conditions and provide relief:
How Does CBD Help Bedridden Patients?
The human endocannabinoid system is a vast network of endogenous cannabinoids. It passes through several critical sites and regulates many important physiological functions. Because CBD can tap into this vast network, research has shown that it can catalyze several crucial reactions in the human body.
Moreover, unlike THC, CBD isn’t psychoactive, and therefore much safer to use in vulnerable demographics, such as children and seniors. Furthermore, CBD’s therapeutic profile makes it especially beneficial for bedridden patients because it’s uniquely consistent with the conditions afflicting this particular segment of ailing individuals.
Here’s how CBD can help solve a myriad of problems prevalent in hospitalized patients:
#1 CBD can Help Manage Chronic Pain in Bedridden Patients
Pain, and sometimes even intense pain, is a common problem in almost a majority of bedridden patients. In the US alone, 75-85% of seniors have Arthritis, of which joint pain is an integral component. This relegates bedridden patients to an isolated spot on the bed, unable to move or fend off for themselves.
A major cause of chronic pain conditions like arthritis has to do with inflammation. As CBD possesses anti-inflammatory properties, it can help manage chronic pain in these cases. Research has shown that CBD can fight inflammation and curb pain in various conditions, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
CBD interacts with various receptors in the Endocannabinoid system. With the most important being CBD1, to stimulate the activity of anandamide, Serotonin, and other pain-relieving chemicals.
What’s great is that it accomplishes this without causing any adverse side effects, which gives it an edge over other chronic pain medications, such as Morphine and Fentanyl.
#2 CBD can Promote Bone Health in Bedridden Patients
Bone health can deteriorate rapidly due to various reasons (aging, neurodegeneration, and autoimmune diseases). When this happens, healthcare providers advise patients to put bed rest at the top of their list.
However, even after adopting a sedentary lifestyle, many patients, especially those who have osteoporosis and other bone degenerative diseases, have to deal with deteriorating bone health. On top of this, they’re also susceptible to fractures and intense pain after a minor fall.33% of males and 55% of females over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporotic fractures, which heavily constrict their mobility.
Aside from curbing pain and helping with inflammation, research has revealed that CBD can improve bone health and expedite healing after a fracture. Although more scientific research is needed to back these findings, existing evidence is quite promising.
#3 CBD may Improve Sleep Quality
Insomnia is responsible for casting a very wide net on human populations. However, it’s especially a predominant element in bedridden patients. This is mainly because bedridden patients suffer from many symptoms, such as depression, pain, and anxiety, that contribute to a rapid sleep quality decline.
To treat sleeping disorders, most bed care patients rely on traditional drugs. While these are good as a temporary fix, they can create adverse side effects in the long run.
CBD can combat stress, restlessness, and is also known as a potent anti-anxiety agent, and therefore, can play a pivotal role in promoting healthier sleep in bed care patients. Moreover, its usage doesn’t cause any serious side effects, as already mentioned above. This makes it an excellent replacement for painkillers and other ill-advised sleeping medications.
#4 CBD can Treat Mood-related Disorders in Bedridden Patients
Chronic pain and mood-disorders often accompany each other. The stress of not being able to socialize and spending long hours confined to one object causes many bedridden patients to spiral into depression, anxiety, and fickle mood swings.
When left untreated, these can lead to major health issues, such as developing a serious mental illness. Patients who are prescribed bed rest for long periods can feel disconnected, isolated, and lonely, which can massively affect mental states.
Based on findings from a growing body of CBD science, CBD can help with mood disorders. CBD interacts with receptors responsible for modulating mood, thus alleviating stress, promoting “calmness,” and increasing cognitive function.
CBD interacts with CB1 receptors in the central nervous system and triggers the activity of “mood-improving” chemicals, such as Serotonin and Adenosine, to significantly impact mood in affected individuals to accomplish this.
Final Thoughts
Most bedridden patients don’t get the attention they deserve. They’re at heightened risk of experiencing neglect, social isolation, and mood fluctuations. Even when it comes to hospitalized individuals, lack of social contact is a huge problem.
This can lead to serious mood disorders and even exacerbate underlying mental conditions, such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder. Moreover, most bedridden patients have to deal with severe chronic pain, making every second seem like a long hour. The painful ordeal that arthritic and other bone degenerative disease sufferers have to go through is both mentally and physically tolling.
The past and present research on CBD suggests that CBD could help make these people’s lives easier. Moreover, CBD is not known to cause any complications or side effects that other conventional drugs are famous for, which is why research should focus on further cementing it as a viable medication for bedridden patients.
