Prevalence of CAM use among menopausal women
Women are the highest users of complementary medicine, so it comes at no surprise that they use them a lot during two key life stages – pregnancy and menopause.
Last week on the show, we spoke about how pregnant women were using complementary and alternative medicine, also known as CAM.
This week, we take a look at how menopausal women use complementary medicine. Complementary medicine is things like yoga, herbal medicine, acupuncture, and osteopathy.
Women can experience two types of menopause – surgical and natural. Surgical menopause is an induced menopause, and occurs when a woman’s ovaries are removed. Natural menopause happens when women stop menstruating. The symptoms associated with both types of menopause differ, but many – such as hot flushes and night sweats – are similar.
Hormone replacement therapy is a common way to reduce some of the symptoms associated with menopause, but many women still choose complementary medicine to ease symptoms.
Wenbo Peng is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney. Wenbo has been studying how this group of women uses complementary medicine.
Producer: Ellen Leabeater
Image: Pim Geerts on Flickr.