Just like in animals, males and females in humans have different hormonally-driven and genetic behaviors. They process information differently, perceive emotion and experiences differently, and display a range of languages, attitudes, and social skills.
They also portray sex-related differences in their brain organization and anatomy. While drug addiction is common in males and females, there are sex-dependent differences in behavioral and biological effects.
Following that realization, there are different studies aimed to determine if CBD works differently in males and females.
According to the studies, there have been sex-dependent effects in behavioral and physiological aspects like depression and anxiety in females and energy balance and food intake in males.
How Does CBD Work In Men And Women?
To understand the different results of using CBD in males and females, it is important to understand how CBD affects men and women.
CBD works better for female anxiety
To determine how CBD works to help with anxiety symptoms, researchers divided cannabis users into three groups. One group was to use CBD, the other one THC, and the other one 1:1.
They all had reduced anxiety symptoms after around a month of using cannabis, but those using CBD had the biggest improvement.
The researchers then proceeded to divide the CBD users into males and females, and they found that women responded better to the anxiety-reduction benefits of CBD.
After using CBD for around two weeks, the anxiety levels in women had a continuous drop, but for males, they remained almost stagnant.
To treat pain, women might need a dose of THC
Women are more pain-sensitive than men in their nervous system, and they tend to experience around twice as much pain as men. In a study, researchers gathered a group of men and women suffering from knee pain related to osteoarthritis.
They discovered that men experienced relief from using CBD, but women did not. One of the possible reasons could be that in females, the pain could be coming from the central nervous system, while in men, it could come from peripheral areas.
That is when they discovered that adding a small amount of THC helped with the pain in females. That also applies to other conditions where the pain comes from the CNS, like headaches, fibromyalgia, and IBS.
Females are more sensitive to higher CBD doses
Doctors recommend a maximum dose of 20 mg/kg for purified CBD. That is because CBD could induce drug interaction, which is concerning for the elderly. Drug use rates increase as people get older, and using herbal supplements poses a great risk of liver illnesses in females. For this reason, many people opt to use CBD tinctures as opposed to other methods. According to HempFusion, it’s the easiest way to tailor the dosage to your unique needs.
In a research study involving mice, the mortality rate in female rats from toxicity was 40% compared to that in male rats, which was 8.5%.
Women love THC more than men
Dr. Ryan Vandrey presented results from a study where he used 100mg of CBD or/and placebo. They used syrup, capsules, and Epidiolex, and the study showed that women rate drug effects more liking and more pleasant than men.
Also, with a THC addiction, there was a higher heartbeat in men than women. When they used vaporized CBD, they found that women had higher CBD levels in their blood than when they ingested it.
If you want to start using CBD, you can use CBD tinctures, CBD oils, or creams, depending on the purpose.
