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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Paper

Empowering Women’s Reproductive Health: Exploring CBD as a Novel Therapy for PCOS and Endometriosis Management.

presenters

    Shabnam Shaik

    Nationality: South Africa

    Residence: South Africa

    Rhodes University/ Wits - VIDA

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and Endometriosis are incurable chronic degenerative reproductive health diseases which affect 8 - 13% and 10% of girls and women of reproductive age, respectively, worldwide. Biomedical treatment for the management of symptoms includes invasive surgery, which has short-term effects, and long-term consumption of contraceptives. The side effects of long-term use of contraceptives include mood changes, migraines, increased blood pressure, and an increasing risk of cancer. In recent years, Cannabidiol (CBD) has seen an increase in popularity as an alternative medicine, most notably in women living with PCOS and/ or endometriosis. Cannabis and its derivatives have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries until cannabis was criminalised across the world in the early 1900s. Reproductive health has largely been determined by powerful and marginalising frameworks within biomedical health systems and global structures which are grounded in colonial frameworks and this study shows that women are taking back their power in relation to their reproductive health through the use of alternative medicines like CBD. This paper presents findings from 11 semi-structured interviews with women living with PCOS and/ or endometriosis who have turned to CBD products in the management of their disease symptoms. Using an ethnomedical lens, the study found that since using CBD products participants have experienced a marked difference in their health and well-being, namely; improved mood and mood balance, drastic reduction in pain, stress, and anxiety, and improved quality of life. The paper highlights how ‘old’ medicines are becoming ‘new’ and subsequently reshaping practices of life-making, health and well-being.

Keywords:

Cannabidiol; reproductive health; alternative medicine