In a study presented at the 2020 Virtual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), nearly one in two women report using cannabis to manage bothersome menopausal symptoms.
- More than one in four postmenopausal women (27%) say they have used or are using cannabis to manage symptoms like hot flashes or night sweats.
A major turning point in a woman’s life, menopause is usually accompanied by unpleasant symptoms due to hormonal changes. Hot flashes, vaginal dryness, sleep disturbances, mood swings, weight gain are all symptoms that can be difficult to deal with on a daily basis.
According to a new study, the results of which are presented during the 2020 virtual meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), more and more women are using or are tempted to use cannabis to cope with the troublesome symptoms of menopause. .
One in four postmenopausal women consume
This work focused on 232 women (mean age 55.95 years) residing in Northern California. More than half of them said they had bothersome symptoms due to the onset of menopause: hot flashes and night sweats (54%), insomnia (27%) and genito-urinary symptoms (69 %).
Of the women surveyed, 27% said they had used or currently use cannabis to manage their symptoms. Thirty-seven percent of participants said they were interested in using cannabis to better manage their symptoms in the future. In contrast, only 19% said they had used a more traditional type of menopausal symptom management, such as hormone therapy.
According to the results, cannabis is mainly used by women who had reported hot flashes and night sweats. Interestingly, this use did not differ by age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or mental health conditions.
“These results suggest that cannabis use to manage menopausal symptoms may be relatively common”, analyzes Carolyn Gibson, psychologist and main author of the work. However, she tempers, “we do not know if cannabis use is safe or effective for managing menopausal symptoms or if women discuss these decisions with their health care providers”. It is however necessary to discuss it with your doctor but also to “continue research in this area”.
“This study highlights a somewhat alarming trend and the need for more research into the potential risks and benefits of cannabis use for the management of bothersome menopausal symptoms”concludes Dr. Stéphanie Faubion, medical director of NAMS.
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