The January 2020 edition of Women and Home magazine carried an article asking whether menopause magnets help ease menopause symptoms. The piece, which focuses on the LadyCare magnet, asserts that evidence published by The National Center for Complementary Health (NCCIH) and various other studies suggest magnets would not work.
The article also cites a scathing blog by obstetrics, gynaecology and pain managment expert Dr Jen Gunter who does not mince her words – it’s crap. This message is further driven home by reference to a 2014 Advertising Standards Authority investigation that concluded that a Daily Express LadyCare advertorial misleadingly implied adequate objective evidence existed to substantiate claims that LadyCare could contribute to relieving the symptoms of menopause.
Pretty damning.
However the NCCIH reference to magnets is found in a review of 70 published studies on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for menopausal symptoms. I quote
most (48 studies) tested biologically based practices such as soy products and herbal supplements; a few studies looked at other CAM therapies—such as progressive relaxation, osteopathic manipulation, and magnet therapy. Nearly half of the studies included in the review were of poor quality, which made their results unreliable. Differences among the studies made it challenging for the review authors to compare the results and draw conclusions. However, they did conclude that although individual studies suggest benefits from certain CAM therapies, the overall evidence does not support their use for menopausal symptoms. The authors noted that results from higher quality studies (especially on the most commonly used CAM therapies for menopause) are needed to better compare evidence among therapies.
Therein lies the quandary. The rigorous independent testing that takes place before a treatment such as HRT is brought to market is extremely costly and usually only feasible for pharmaceutical companies who bank on future sales revenues to recoup that expenditure. But without rigorous independent research the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of magnets (or other CAM remedies) for menopause symptoms must remain in doubt. That leaves the door open to charlatans and quack remedies.
But this is not the whole story.
I cannot rule out the possibility that well designed research might one day provide compelling evidence that the claimed benefits from using menopause magnets can be completely explained as, for example, a placebo effect (in fact I notice that the reassurance I feel when wearing the magnet contributes to its effectiveness – but I suspect there is more to it than this).
What I can say, with complete conviction, is that wearing magnets has been life-changingly beneficial for me and for many (but by no means all) of the women who try the August Rose slip (and the Women and Home article did acknowledge that some women report benefits from using the LadyCare magnet).
I have no motive to make false or exaggerated claims about the August Rose slip because I provide a refund if it does not help. So, if like me, your life has been put on hold by severe hot flushes you can add directly to much needed independent research by trying the August Rose slip yourself.