Serums that promise firm skin. Powders that claim to eliminate night sweats. From skin care to supplements to special snacks, menopause may be a new gold rush in the wellness industry.
Perimenopause and menopause affect the estimated 10 million women in Canada who are over the age of 40, according to Statistics Canada. The symptoms, which include hot flashes, mood swings and insomnia, can be extremely disruptive. The Menopause Foundation of Canada reports that 10 per cent of women will stop working due to unmanaged symptoms.
And after years of being overlooked, these women are now staring down an avalanche of products marketed to them, promising relief. But experts warn the results often don’t live up to the hype.
“I think it’s a marketing storm,” said Dr. Jerilynn Prior, an endocrinology professor at the University of British Columbia. “I think there’s just an incredible opportunity for people who want to sell stuff.”
Once a taboo topic, menopause is now being treated as a huge growth opportunity for some in the women’s wellness industry, but health experts warn some of these products promising relief are useless and possibly even harmful.
Hot flashes, hot market
The global menopause market size was about $17 billion US last year, and is expected to surpass $24 billion US a year by 2030, forecasts research firm Grand View Research.
Now, many are looking to cash in on that growth, including celebrities, who have recently started promoting menopause products. Actress Drew Barrymore, for example, said she uses a pill that contains chromium, chasteberry and maca root, and that claims to ease hot flashes and support hormonal weight management goals. Across social media, influencers claim to have a cure, suggesting black cohosh and primrose oil can relieve night sweats and hot flashes.
“I know that the algorithm is targeting me, and I bought the supplements,” said Sachelle Prosper, 49. The Toronto woman said she’s been bombarded with ads on Instagram. “There’s so many symptoms and there’s not one managed magic bullet. You end up spending a lot for a whole suite of treatments, hoping something will work.”
Sasha Howell, 41, says she’s already experiencing menopause-related changes to her hair and skin. But many of her elder family members still don’t like to talk about it, so she is looking for solutions on her own. She recently attended a menopause show in Toronto, which aimed to educate attendees and give them well-being strategies.
“I feel like there’s a lot to learn. There’s a lot of information and there’s a lot of misinformation.”
Still, experts say supplements are not well regulated. Prior, from UBC, worries about the quality of the research being used to peddle the products.
“Anytime a study is done by a company that’s going to benefit from the sale, there’s bias,” she said. “The statistician is biased, the company is biased.”
Nicole Rourke, a marketing professor at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ont., said talking about menopause has been taboo for a long time.
“The word ‘period’ [in reference to menstruation] was first used on television in 1985,” she said. “So if you think of who was starting their period in 1985, these same women are the ones that are reaching menopause. So it doesn’t surprise me that there’s a much more openness about it.”
Helpful or harmful?
It’s clear many women are desperate for answers — like Nadine Schumont, who lives in Toronto. She said she gets hot flashes every two hours, and night sweats force her to change her clothing multiple times. She is taking black cohosh to try to reduce her symptoms. She’s also tried topical creams and reflexology.
“At 54, I’ve tried a lot, and nothing lasts. It only lasts for a month and then my body will go back to the way it was.”
Dr. Wendy Wolfman, director of Mount Sinai Hospital’s Menopause Clinic in Toronto, encouraged women to talk to their health-care provider about hormone replacement therapy.
HRT replaces estrogen and progesterone in a woman’s body during and after menopause, when levels of those hormones drop.
“We know things that work and we know things that don’t work. And I would say pretty much anything you get over the counter to treat hot flashes isn’t going to work really well.”
Wolfman warned that supplements, which in addition to black cohosh and primrose oil also include maca, ginseng and flaxseed, are mostly useless and potentially harmful. She said there is little scientific evidence that they will bring women long-term relief for symptoms of menopause.
“I would say buyer beware. Don’t waste your money.”