Caffeine occurs naturally in various foods, such as coffee, tea, and cocoa, and it has been used safely as a mild stimulant for a long time. However, excessive caffeine consumption (1~1.5 g/day) can cause caffeine poisoning (caffeinism), which includes symptoms such as anxiety, agitation, insomnia, and gastrointestinal disorders. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the effect of caffeine consumption as a protective factor or risk factor for neurological and psychiatric disorders. Currently, the importance of personalized medicine is being emphasized, and research on sex/gender differences needs to be conducted. Our review focuses on the effect of caffeine consumption on several neurological and psychiatric disorders with respect to sex differences to provide a better understanding of caffeine use as a risk or protective factor for those disorders. The findings may help establish new strategies for developing sex‐specific caffeine therapies.
Funding: This research was supported by the Support Program for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology through the Center for Women In Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET) and funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (No. WISET202003GI01); the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (HI18C0920); the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education (2018R1D1A1B07048729), Republic of Korea.
