The study abstract, presented at The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting, looked at around 1,500 middle-aged Canadian women, two-thirds of whom said they had used pot at some point, with one-third saying they’d done so within the past month.
Of the current cannabis users, 75% reported that they’d been using pot for medical purposes, but only 23% had it medically prescribed to them. The research also showed that women were most interested in improving sleep (65%) and easing anxiety (45%) during the menopause transition.
One important caveat: This particular study doesn’t prove that cannabis helps menopausal women—it just provides a snapshot of women using cannabis, and how they are using it. There is no solid research on cannabis treating menopause symptoms, and little to no research has proven that pot can effectively treat menopause-related symptoms.
The research has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, yet.
References
- Katherine Babyn, MSc student, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Stephanie Faubion, MD, medical director, North American Menopause Society, Pepper Pike, Ohio; Nese Yuksel, PharmD, professor, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, University of Alberta; North American Menopause Society, annual meeting, Washington, D.C., Sept. 22-25, 2021