Medical cannabis has emerged as a new frontier for pain management and symptom relief among various conditions.
Researchers have started to explore how this complex plant interacts with human physiology following its legalization and increasing social acceptance around the world.
One of the areas under research which is particularly baffling, is the fact that there could be disparity in the way women and men feel as a result of consuming medical cannabis.
Gender-based disparities in both therapeutic benefits and psychiatric side-effects of cannabis use have been exposed by a wide-ranging study comprising 429 patients under medication, 154 of whom are female while others are male 275.
It is clear from this data how imperative personalized medicine has now become. Cannabis research and clinical applications need to take into account gender issues.
In the course of analyzing these results, it contributes to a better understanding of how biological sex might impact on the efficacy and tolerability of medical cannabis, hence providing guidance for future product development and treatment approaches in this rapidly changing domain.
The Neurological Landscape. Cognitive and Psychological Effects
The most conspicuous difference between genders when it comes to using medicinal cannabis is in terms of its neurological and psychological consequences.
For example, women are more likely than men to undergo certain cognitive changes or experience mood swings following administration of cannabis.
According to the information available, confusion was registered by 16% of all female respondents while only 8% were affected among the males; also females tended to report moderate to severe levels of confusion more frequently than their male counterparts did.
Other cognitive areas also follow this pattern with women leading in attention (21% vs. 10%) impairment as well as memory defects (29% vs.).
The data paints an equally grim picture when it comes to psychology. Anxiety – something many users find troubling – was found at 14% in women however just 7% in men.
What’s more, women with anxiety were more likely to suffer from frequent or constant episodes of severe fear as compared with their male counterparts.
Besides that, dysphoria which refers to a feeling general discontent or unease was also common among users of female gender at 29% against 14% incidence rates established for males; thus a higher proportion females complained about everlasting dysphoria.
These trending outcomes hint that the psychoactive properties of marijuana affect females differently perhaps because their neurochemistry varies or because they have different hormone interactions within them or distinct densities and distributions of cannabinoid receptors from one another.
This increased receptivity may turn out favorable in terms of treating mood disorders while at the same time posing risks of maladaptive psychological effects.
However, there were a handful of effects that did not show increased female sensitivity.
Euphoria, which is often thought to be a key effect of marijuana use was more prevalent in males than to females (6% vs. 2%).
In this regard, there appears to be complicated gender-based patterns on how cannabis interacts with brain reward and pleasure centers, possibly mediated by sex-related distinctions in endocannabinoid system functioning.
These neurological and psychological differences underscore the importance of individualized treatment with regard to using medical marijuana.
As a result, clinicians might need to start women on lower doses or have different compositions with regard to cannabinoids so that they do not experience bad mood swings as their cognitive skills decline while benefiting from its medicinal effects.
Physical Manifestations. From Gastrointestinal Issues to Musculoskeletal Pain
The survey demonstrated also significant sex-based differences in physical impacts related to gender in taking medication through cannabis therapeutically especially in musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal aspects.
They occurred more severely and constantly in women who also felt constant severe nausea or diarrhea respectively at 18% as opposed 10% incidence rates for men regarding the two symptoms’ exposures.
Perhaps this heightened sensitivity may limit the use of cannabis for treating irritable bowel syndrome or chemotherapy-induced nausea where sex-specific dosing strategies would be required.
Conversely, this super sensitivity could dictate the dose adjustment in case of Irritable Bowel Syndrome or nausea due to chemotherapy.
On the flip side, there is an interesting trend when it comes to appetite regulation. That is while the issue of increased appetite commonly known as “munchies” was raised by both genders in an almost similar rate, reduced appetite was more rampant among ladies (23% versus 10%).
This implies a complex interplay of contradictory elements in cannabis effects on metabolism as well as food intake control mechanisms influenced by gender.
Musculoskeletal effects also differed significantly by gender. Joint pain affected more women than men (25% vs. 13%) and those who reported severe or constant joint pain were predominantly female.
Similar to this was that more women complained about having weak limbs (19% vs. 11%). These findings might carry a lot of weight regarding the use of medical marijuana for managing chronic pain conditions that disproportionately affect women.
The data also uncovered interesting discrepancies in terms of cardiovascular and visual effects.
In comparison with men, female participants had a higher likelihood of experiencing fast heartbeat (14% vs. 8%) and blurred vision (12% vs. 5%), whereas males were more likely to develop red eyes related to cannabis use (21% vs. 13%).
It is possible these disparities may be due to how cannabis influences the regulation of blood pressure and ocular physiology between both sexes.
When considering all these somatic signs linked with marijuana intake the picture transpires that females might have generally heightened responsiveness.
This increased susceptibility to both therapeautic effects and side effects indicates that personalized dosing strategies along with careful monitoring are necessary while using medical cannabis especially for women.
Sleep Quality of Life and Gender Differences at Large
So far the information we have focused on symptoms but now we want to see how medical marijuana affect sleep patterns and quality of life more broadly from the survey data.
Also, further studies are required to determine if this sexual dimorphism exists among cannabis patients generally since there was an indication that females took longer to fall asleep as showed by the sleep latency measure
This therefore implies that there may be a sex-specific response.
Interestingly women took slightly more time in bed though it took them longer to fall asleep than men.
On the other hand some people sleep more lightly or productively depending on gender differences as shown by women feeling more tired after sleeping for 24 h than men do.
These disparities suggest some kind of paradox despite the fact that women are generally smaller than men.
So, these gender differences in sleep patterns and quality of life could have far-reaching implications for medical cannabis use.
It seems that although cannabis might benefit people from both sexes, there might be significant difference in how it leads to these benefits and also balances losses.
For females, this road may be littered with more side effects; however they tend to experience more relief from symptoms and improvement in their general well-being by using it.
From this survey alone, we can infer that researchers investigating this area need to consider deeply its results.
To understand these differences, there is need for special studies which would involve hormonal interactions, metabolic changes or even differences in endocannabinoid system functioning between males and females.
Personalized Medicine in Cannabis Therapeutics
It may be necessary for treatment plans to account for not only the biology of the patient, but also his or her sex. This could involve adjusting doses, selecting particular cannabinoid profiles or even administering drugs differently on the basis of gender.
As far as product development goes, there might exist opportunities for creating medical marijuana formulations targeting specific genders that harness the healing power while leaving behind only minimal adverse reactions that are based on sex-specific sensitivities.
Such formulation would offer better tolerable treatments for both men and women.
In the end, it is essential to understand that cannabis is not only about the plant, but also individual differences such as gender.
The greater our knowledge of these differences in gender, the more effective we will be in maximizing medical marijuana for all patients despite sex. It is not the future of cannabis medicine within a weed itself but rather in understanding how it interacts with diverse human beings’ lives and complicated bodies.
Females have a higher rate of dry mouth incidence, a common side effect of cannabis, as compared to males, where 43% versus 35% with female users reporting more severe and constant symptoms.
This difference could be due to either salivary gland function or hydration level among sexes which might have an impact on oral health and comfort during cannabis use.
Another point of interest is about time perception; It was found out that; time sense was more likely to decrease in women than in men (8% vs 5%), and it was more frequent among them.
This could have been as a result of the differences noted earlier on cognitive effects and it may determine how long a particular user feels effects of cannabis.
The data show variations in incidents of some rare side effects.
For instance tremors were predominantly reported by ladies (6% vs. 6%, however at various intervals of occurrence), but being hyperactive was observed slightly greater in males (4% versus 5%).
These subtle differences in uncommon side effects underscore the intricate effects of cannabis on the human body as well as the need for personalized evaluation.
However, it is important to emphasize that the survey helps in understanding the gender differences observed during medical cannabis usage.
Direction for Further Studies
Future researches with control over variables like cannabis type and delivery method would give more concise data on sex-dependent cannabis responses.
Also, while this study touches on just biological sex differences, let us also note that gender identity including its social aspects such as culture have a lot to play in how people experience or rather report their responses to medicinal cannabis.
These types of complex interaction could be better understood through future studies which at once take into account both sex as well as gender.
This survey’s information forms an interesting story about male versus female medical cannabis use showing that generally therapeutic effects are stronger but adverse ones are more frequent among women than men.
