Does the co-use of tobacco and cannabis increase the risk of earlier age at menopause?
Description: Cigarette smoking is strongly linked to earlier age at menopause, which can have a profound impact on women’s health and well-being. While women in the US typically reach menopause around age 51, smokers may reach menopause 1-2 years earlier on average and have double the risk for early (between age 40-45) and premature (before age 40) menopause as non-smokers. Earlier age at menopause, particularly early and premature menopause, can lead to unexpected fertility loss as well as increased risk for premature death, early myocardial infarction, cardiovascular disease, neurologic disease, osteoporosis, psychosexual dysfunction, and depression. Age at menopause is thought to be influenced by tobacco use through exposure to chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These chemicals are also released by smoking cannabis, and studies suggest that co-use of tobacco and cannabis leads to far higher exposures than tobacco use alone. Cannabis use may therefore add to the known effect of tobacco use on age at menopause, putting women who co-use tobacco and cannabis at even higher risk for premature, early, and earlier age at menopause and related harms. Importantly, cannabis use and co-use is increasing among women, and women who use cannabis may be subject to particularly high rates of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure for two reasons: 1) women often report cannabis use to manage insomnia, anxiety, and/or chronic pain, resulting in frequent use to manage these common chronic conditions; 2) over 70% of adult cannabis users also use tobacco, and women are more likely to co-use cannabis and tobacco than use cannabis alone. Identifying whether cannabis use and tobacco and cannabis co-use puts women at higher risk for premature, early, or earlier age at menopause has profound public health importance for early recognition and appropriate counseling in the health care setting. However, these relationships have not been examined to date. In order to address this key evidence gap affecting women’s health and health care, I propose to construct a nationally representative sample of women aged 45-64 using Ipsos KnowledgePanel. This study will build on my team’s experience leveraging this resource to address detailed questions about tobacco and cannabis use as well as my expertise in women’s health related to menopause.
Amount: $914,200
Start date: 2022-07-01
Investigators: Carolyn Gibson, Carolyn Gibson
Institution: Northern California Institute for Research & Education
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: g90k1f
OpenAlex ID: G8668614610