Research shows that a growing number of women experiencing menopause and perimenopause may be using medical cannabis to relieve symptoms.However, some experts say that reports of cannabis use among menopausal women may be overestimated.Although cannabis can ease menopausal symptoms, experts suggest that CBD may be a safer alternative, as research on cannabis is still limited.
Research suggests that more women are turning to medical cannabis to seek relief from menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms.
For example, a study 2020 shows that about 1 in 4 female veterans use cannabis to treat menopausal symptoms.
And now, new researchrecently published in the journal Menopause, suggests that the number of menopausal and perimenopausal women using medical cannabis to relieve symptoms could be much higher.
“This study suggests that medicinal cannabis use may be common in middle-aged women experiencing menopause-related symptoms,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubionmedical director of the North American Menopause Society, a Press release.
Still, experts caution that cannabis’ effects on menopausal symptoms such as anxiety, depression, sleep and pain have yet to be fully established.
“Health care professionals should ask their patients about the use of medicinal cannabis for menopausal symptoms and provide evidence-based recommendations for symptom management,” Faubion added.
The new study involved more than 250 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women who were recruited through advertisements targeting women’s health and cannabis use.
More than 83 percent of study participants said they regularly used cannabis to treat menopause-related symptoms, which the researchers defined as at least once a month.
The study shows that cannabis was most often used to improve sleep and for mood or anxiety problems. The majority of participants (84%) said they smoked cannabis for symptom relief, and 78% of participants reported using edibles.
Despite the seemingly positive findings, the study has built-in bias, as participants were recruited based on their interest in cannabis.
“There is no value in terms of their numbers or validity,” said Dr. Happy Gershan obstetrician-gynecologist and founder of Integrated Medical Group in Irvine, Calif., told Healthline.
“But it does raise the important issue of the suffering of menopausal women without the assistance of the medical establishment.”
Gersh said very few of her patients report using cannabis to treat menopausal symptoms.
“I call cannabis ‘green medicine,'” Gersh said. “This is a potential tool, but we don’t have data on efficacy or safety. It’s really a drug that should be discussed with a doctor, and patients should realize that there are more proven options, such as hormone therapy”.
According to Gersh, the new research may have overestimated the use of cannabis.
Still, a previous one study 2020 suggests that 1 in 4 female veterans used cannabis to treat menopause. In fact, researchers found that more women used cannabis to treat menopausal symptoms than hormone therapy or other traditional types of menopausal symptom management.
“This is troubling because hormone therapy is the most effective therapy we have for menopausal symptoms, and the benefits tend to outweigh the risks for women in their 50s and 10 years after menopause,” Faubion said in Healthline. “Cannabis, on the other hand, is not a proven therapy for menopause.”
Dr. Aaron Gelfand, obstetrician-gynecologist at ChoicePoint, an addiction treatment center in New Jersey, explained that numerous physiological systems are believed to be influenced by the endocannabinoid system, which is activated by plant-based cannabinoids such as CBD and THC. These systems include:
pain perception, body temperature, memory, mood, hunger, stress, sleep, metabolism, immune response, reproduction
According to Gelfand, cannabis is also used to help treat anxiety and depression, sleep and even vaginal dryness among menopausal women.
“The amygdala is responsible for emotions, behavior and motivation,” Gelfand told Healthline. “During menopause, all of this increases. By taking cannabis in any form, the response is suppressed, leading to less anxiety and depression.”
Still, Gelfand said using cannabis to help sleep can have mixed results for people going through menopause.
“While THC usually has a sedative effect, it can also have a stimulating impact on certain users, especially those who are new. [cannabis] they use or take larger amounts”, he explained. “Under these circumstances, smoking [cannabis] before bed can make sleep difficult.”
Conversely, Gelfand said that at smaller doses, CBD appears to promote alertness. At higher concentrations, however, CBD can induce drowsiness.
Regarding the treatment of vaginal dryness, Gelfand noted that “the use of products containing CBD on vaginal or vulvar tissues has not been supported by any well-controlled clinical research.”
If Gersh were to recommend cannabis for menopausal symptom relief, he said he prefers hemp-based products like CBD to products that contain THC, the main psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis.
CBD and other cannabinoids such as THC bind to receptors in the brain associated with memory, cognitive function and pain.
“Women going through menopause often find relief from common menopausal symptoms for exactly this reason,” Mitchell H. Stern, president and CEO of California cannabis grower Burning Bush Nurseries, told Healthline.
“Some CBD brands have begun to meet the unique needs of this emerging market by infusing their products with things like hibiscus, sage and other natural herbs that have been helping menopausal women find relief for thousands of years “, added.
Experts have warned that the supposed benefits of using cannabis to treat menopausal symptoms require further study.
“While adequate research has not been done on the use of cannabis for menopausal symptoms, I would be reluctant to advise the use of THC cannabis for this purpose,” said Dr. David Culpepper, clinical director of the company Telehealth. LifeMDhe told Healthline.
“In my experience, most of the anti-inflammatory and other health benefits that patients receive from cannabis products come not from THC, but from CBD, which is a benign, non-psychoactive compound. It is possible that women who using cannabis for menopause are reaping the benefits of CBD, while needlessly intoxicating themselves with THC.”
As with other experts, Culpepper recommended that people going through menopause try CBD to help ease their symptoms instead of THC-containing cannabis products.
The proliferation of medical cannabis in the United States has contributed to an increasing number of menopausal and perimenopausal women using the drug to treat their associated symptoms.
But some experts say those numbers may be overstated and warn that research on safety and effectiveness is still limited.
Until more rigorous research is done, experts recommend hormone therapy as a first-line treatment or may suggest trying CBD products as an alternative.
If you have symptoms associated with menopause or perimenopause, ask your doctor about the safest treatment options available to help you find relief.