While medical advancements are exciting, there’s one that has the health industry holding its breath for its implementation. Since 2015, doctors and researchers have been working toward creating personalized drugs that would be printed on-demand at your nearest pharmacy. Here’s what you need to know about it.
Why Have Personalized Medication?
Typically, medication comes in set doses that doctors and researchers determine will be beneficial for most people. Unfortunately, a few people get left behind because the set dosage isn’t quite right for their symptoms and their doctor has to make modifications as best as they can. Another benefit of having personalized medication is that people who take multiple drugs could potentially have them combined into one or two manageable pills. This is a particularly good idea for older adults or anyone who has trouble remembering to take their medication.
Pharmacists also aren’t limited to making tablets or capsules. Depending on the medications, they can create thin strips that dissolve easily in the mouth. These strips would work well for anyone who has trouble swallowing regular pills.
Finally, it can be helpful for those who can’t take medication regularly because of the taste. With personalized medication, it’s possible to make tablets taste better. This change is most likely to benefit those who need to give medicine to children.
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How it Benefits Black People
Apart from the benefits listed above, personalized medication could make a huge difference in Black American healthcare. While more research needs to be done, some studies suggest certain drugs are less effective in Black people or take longer to work. For example, specific chemotherapy drugs, asthma inhalers, heart failure medications, and HIV medications may not be as effective with Black Americans as with other ethnicities.
Personalized medications could help doctors formulate drugs that may be better suited to their patients. In that way, they won’t be forced to take the medication that already exists with the risk that their conditions won’t be managed effectively.
Another potential benefit is that researchers may obtain more useful data from clinical trials. As they’re doing more research to perfect 3-D printed medication, health experts need to determine all the potential ways they can be used. This may open the door for clinical trials that focus on specific ethnicities, including Black Americans. Given that studies still show that Black people have learned not to trust the health industry, this may change if there are trials designed specifically for them. The result would be better-designed healthcare for Black people.
Statistics show that a large percentage of Black people who have been diagnosed with chronic illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, and HIV don’t have their conditions under control. Though their conditions might not be managed for various reasons, not taking their medications is high on the list. Personalized medication gives doctors a chance to address the reasons their Black patients aren’t adhering to their medical regimen.
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What the Future Holds
As you might expect, it’s no small feat to make personalized medication available to the public. A lot of regulations have to be in place to ensure that everyone who might opt for this route is safe. The areas that need to be regulated include the type of printer that should be used, the materials that will be used to print the medication, the equipment that will be used to measure the ingredients, and how these instruments will be properly maintained.
They also need to determine the best drugs to start with and which locations so they can gather data about how well the program works. In the meantime, doctors and researchers continue to work together to see how best to use personalized medication.
Leaders in the health industry have been working on personalized medications for years as they have various applications that can benefit many people. While it’s uncertain when it will be available, you can start asking your doctor how it might help you.
