Cannabis and Hormone Replacement Therapy: Does it Work?
Being a woman is a great experience for most of the time. The joy of motherhood is but one of them. But there is also some other stuff we have to deal with men don´t have to. Those are our darn hormones. From a tender age of round about 12 to 13 years old, depending on the individual, our hormones start to show us their teeth.
Hormones play an essential role in our reproductive system, and if we don´t have a balanced hormonal system, we can end up having severe troubles. As we go through the cycles of life, when we reach the age of 45 plus, our reproductive system starts to shut down. The onset of this cycle comes with unpleasant side-effects and can sometimes even lead to serious health issues.
Often, hormone therapies are used to treat various conditions, like menopause, cancer, and health-threatening hormone imbalances. The hormonal system is part of the Endocannabinoid System, and recent studies show great promise in how cannabinoids in cannabis can treat hormone-related issues.
Menopause brings Imbalance to the Endocannabinoid System
The endocannabinoid system controls the hormones. As cannabinoids interact with CB1 and CB2 receptors of the endocannabinoid system, it is a great way to treat many conditions. Women today live much longer than before, and as aging relates to the loss of progesterone and estrogen over a few years, it brings a whole set of new problems. One of these is menopause.
As hormones are changing, additional problems come to light, and cancer becomes riskier. Bone loss also becomes more evident and can lead to osteoporosis. Doctors often fall back on hormone replacement therapy, but that brings other risks. Cannabis proves to be very helpful in treating the symptoms of menopause with the additional benefit of avoiding health risks related to hormone replacement therapy.
How Does Cannabis Help?
Seeing that menopause is related to a hormonal issue, cannabis aims to relieve exactly that area in the endocannabinoid system. As cannabis is a phytocannabinoid, it boosts the system. It helps to promote a healthy endocannabinoid system. One of the hormones, estrogen, helps with the regulation of many cellular functions. Estrogen is a steroid hormone and is essential for female sexual health, as well as for bone health. That is why the loss of estrogen during menopause harms many physiological aspects. The replacement of estrogen should, therefore, reverse the physical issues.
With conventional treatment, both estrogen and progesterone are replaced. Symptoms like night sweats, hot flashes, and insomnia get significant relief, but there is a price to pay.
How Does The Endocannabinoid System and Menopause Link?
Doctors are all of the understanding that the hormonal system during menopause gets unsettled. Estrogen and progesterone interact with the ECS to keep the balance. One of the estrogens, 17b-estradiol, is controlling the regulation of the ECS. It stimulates and inhibits the stimulation of Anandamide. The question is if depletion of these hormones is reversed with phytocannabinoids, would it bring balance again?
How Cannabis Helps the Symptoms of Menopause
Hot Flashes
When the levels of estrogen start to drop, one of the first symptoms women are beginning to experience, are hot flashes. These flashes come and go as they wish, and nothing seems to help. Cannabis is known for dropping temperatures that are super cool for women.
Mood Enhancer
Feelings and mood changes are all part of the responsibilities of the Endocannabinoid System. Both THC and CBD have positive effects on mood change. If you are new to cannabis, it is wise to go slow on too high THC content. CBD has excellent stress-relieving results. Menopause is known for mood swings, and marijuana is a unique way to treat it with.
Sleeping Problems
It is no secret that menopausal women have nights going by where there is just no way to fall asleep. Smoking a little bit before bedtime might just help you to relax. If smoking is not your thing, making a marijuana-infused tea will do the job. Apart from relaxing your muscles, it also has many other therapeutic benefits.
Appetite Controlling
With hormonal changes come other changes too. One of them is eating more. Cannabis is usually associated with wanting you to eat more, but the incredible news is that even if you eat more, marijuana lowers insulin sensitivity. This is very good for controlling weight.
Bone Density
Studies show that cannabis can improve bone density. CBD is specifically useful in healing bones and restoring bone density. With the loss of estrogen, one of the side-effects is possible osteoporosis.
Conclusion
There are many benefits of using cannabis to help with menopause. Even before menopause, it is beneficial. It helps with breast tenderness and painful menstruation symptoms. During menopause, women often struggle with vaginal dryness. Cannabis also helps with that. Often an endocannabinoid deficiency is the cause of early menopause. When the depletion of the endocannabinoid system is reversed, the symptoms of menopause are also lighter.
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