Women's Pain is Different from Men's - The Drugs Could be Too Reading Answers

Mar 6, 2025

Women's Pain is Different from Men's - The Drugs Could be Too Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Women's Pain is Different from Men's - The Drugs Could be Too Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the question set given you have to choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings given. In the next question set given you have to fill the blanks with the correct option in no more than two words.

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognize essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practicing these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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Section 1 WOMEN'S PAIN IS DIFFERENT FROM MEN'S-THE DRUGS COULD BE TOO

A. Men and women can't feel each other's pain. Literally, we have different biological pathways for chronic pain, which means pain -relieving drugs that work for one sex might fail in the other half of the population. So why don't we have pain medicines designed just for men or women? The reason is simple: Because no one has looked for them. Drug development begins with studies on rats and mice, and until three years ago, almost all that research used only male animals. As a result, women in particular may be left with unnecessary pain-but men might be too.

B. Now a study in the journal Brain reveals differences in the sensory nerves that enter the spinal cords of men and women with neuropathic pain, which is persistent shooting or burning pain. The first such study in humans, it provides the most compelling evidence yet that we need different drugs for men and women. "There's a huge amount of suffering that's happening that we could solve," says Ted Price, professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas, Dallas, and an author of the Brain article. "As a field, it would be awesome to start having some success stories."

C. Some 50 million people struggle with pain most days or every day and chronic pain is the

leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Women are more likely than men to have a chronic pain condition, such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, or migraines. Meanwhile, pain medications are killing us. About 17,000 people die each year from prescribed opioids as clinicians write almost 200 million opioid prescriptions, or more than one for every two American adults.

D. The failure to include sex differences in the search for better pain relief stems in part from flawed but deep-seated beliefs. "Medical researchers made the assumption that men and women were absolutely identical in every respect, except their reproductive biology. If there were differences in how their drugs worked between men and women, they didn't want to hear about it, says Marianne Legato, a cardiologist who began sounding an alarm in the 1980s about differences in heart attack symptoms among women. She went on to pioneer a new field of gender-specific medicine.

E. The Brain study came about from a unique opportunity at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. You can't take a biopsy of spinal tissue, but researchers were able to study clusters Of sensory neurons in eight women and 18 men Who had spinal tumors removed. The analysis included sequencing RNA to determine which genes are active in the neural cells. They compared men and women who had a history of chronic neuropathic pain to those who didn't. Their pain wasn't caused by the tumors themselves. Some patients had nerve compression causing neuropathic pain, while others didn't have neuropathic pain or chronic pain at all.

In men who did have neuropathic pain, macrophages-cells of the immune system-were most active. In women, neuropeptides, which are protein-like substances released by neurons, were prominent. "This represents the first direct human evidence that pain seems to be as sex-dependent in its underlying biology in humans as we have been suggesting for a while now, based on experiments in mice," says Jeffrey Mogil, professor Of pain studies at McGill University in Montreal and a leading researcher on sex differences in pain, who was not involved in the Brain study.

F. Tailoring new medicines to men or women would be revolutionary, particularly considering that it took many years for women (and female animals) to get included in pain research at all. Fearful of potential birth defects, in 1977 the FDA cautioned against including women of childbearing age in clinical trials, which meant women used drugs solely designed for men. By 1993, the thinking had changed, and Congress passed a law requiring the inclusion Of women in clinical trials funded by the National Institutes Of Health. Although clinical trials now include both men and women, they often don't report results by sex.

G. The acknowledgement of sex differences in pain could stir up the field and lead to new advances. Amid the promise of "personalized" medicine, with drugs tailored to patients based on genetic sequencing, developing pain medicines for half the population seems like a no-brainer. "Now there's a whole new frontier opening up in front Of our eyes," Price says.

Questions 14-20

Reading passage 2 has 7 sections, from A - G.

Choose the correct heading for each section

from the list of headings below Write the correct

number, from i • ix.

i. Conclusion was made on an analysis of men and women's chronic neuropathic pain

ii. The inclusion of females in pain research used to encounter certain obstacles

iii. A criticism of a wrong belief

iv. Different pain conditions were found in women

v. The pioneering study about the differences in neuropathic pain between men and women

vi. Promising scenarios for the medicine field

vii. The main cause of prolonged disability in the US

viii. Challenges to include sex differences in medicine researches

ix. Less attention has been paid to gender -specific medicine

14. Section A

Answer: IX

Supporting statement:Drug development begins with studies on rats and mice, and until three years ago, almost all that research used only male animals.

Keywords: three years, male animals

Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 4-5

Explanation: According to the text The drug development was mainly done by studying rats and mice and only male species were studied up until three years ago so there were more experiments conducted on a specific gender.

15. Section B

Answer: V

Supporting statement: Now a study in the journal Brain reveals differences in the sensory nerves that enter the spinal cords of men and women with neuropathic pain,

Keywords: sensory nerves, spinal cords

Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 1-2

Explanation: According to a recent study published in the journal Brain, men and women who experience neuropathic pain—a chronic shooting or burning pain—have different sensory nerves entering their spinal cords. It is the first human study of its kind and offers the strongest proof to date that men and women require different drugs.

16. Section C

Answer: VII

Supporting statement:Some 50 million people struggle with pain most days or every day and chronic pain is the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States.

Keywords: 50 million, long-term

Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 1-2

Explanation: According to the text, In the US, chronic pain is the main cause of long-term disability, affecting almost 50 million people on most days or every day. Chronic pain conditions like migraines, fibromyalgia, and arthritis are more common in women than in males.

17. Section D

Answer: III

Supporting statement:If there were differences in how their drugs worked between men and women, they didn't want to hear about it, says Marianne Legato, a cardiologist

Keywords: differences, drugs worked

Keyword Location: Para D, Line 4

Explanation:According to the text researchers in medicine assumed that, except for reproductive biology, men and women were completely the same. Marianne Legato, a cardiologist who started raising concerns about the disparities in heart attack symptoms among women in the 1980s, says drug makers didn't want to hear about any variations in how their medications performed between men and women.

18. Section E

Answer: I

Supporting statement:In men who did have neuropathic pain, macrophages-cells of the immune system-were most active. In women, neuropeptides, which are protein-like substances released by neurons, were prominent.

Keywords: neuropathic pain, neuropeptides

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 8-9

Explanation: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston did the brain study in which sensory neuron clusters in 8 women and 18 men who had tumors removed from their spine. To ascertain which genes are activated in the neural cells, RNA sequencing was part of the investigation. Men and women with a history of persistent neuropathic pain were contrasted with those without. The tumors themselves were not the source of their suffering. While some individuals experienced chronic discomfort or neuropathic pain due to nerve compression, others did not. Immune system cells called macrophages were most active in males who did experience neuropathic pain. Neuropeptides, which resemble proteins and are released by neurons, were more common in women

19. Section F

Answer: II

Supporting statement: particularly considering that it took many years for women (and female animals) to get included in pain research at all.

Keywords: years, women

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 2

Explanation: The passage states that it took many years for women (and female animals) to be included in pain research at all, it would be revolutionary to design new medications specifically for males or women. In 1977, the FDA advised against enrolling women of reproductive age in clinical studies due to concerns about possible birth defects, which resulted in women using medications exclusively intended for men.

20. Section G

Answer: VI

Supporting statement:The acknowledgement of sex differences in pain could stir up the field and lead to new advances.

Keywords: sex differences, new advances

Keyword Location: Para G, Lines 1-2

Explanation: The text mentions that the Recognition that men and women experience pain differently might motivate the medical field and lead to revolutionary changes. It would seem obvious to produce medication for pain for half of the population given the promise of "personalized" medicine, which would include creating medications specifically for each patient based on their genetic makeup.

Questions 21-26

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each.

21. Chronic pain is considered the root Of ……………in many people in the US.

Answer: LONG -TERM DISABILITY

Supporting statement:chronic pain is the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States.

Keywords: chronic pain, disability

Keyword Location: Para C, Lines 1- 2

Explanation: According to the text long term disability is caused in the United States is mostly due to chronic pain

22. It used to be assumed by medical researchers that………….was the only difference found in men and women.

Answer: REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Supporting statement:Medical researchers made the assumption that men and women were absolutely identical in every respect, except their reproductive biology

Keywords: Medical researchers, reproductive biology

Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 2-3

Explanation: According to the text prior to any changes in the research in drugs making for pain relief researchers assumed that both the genders were identical in every aspect except the only difference being the reproductive biology.

23. The study at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center included participants whose………… were cut off.

Answer: SPINAL TUMORS

Supporting statement:but researchers were able to study clusters Of sensory neurons in eight women and 18 men Who had spinal tumors removed.

Keywords: study clusters, tumors

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 2-3

Explanation: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center included 8 women and 18 men who had their spinal tumors removed in their research where they studied the sensory neurons. To ascertain which genes are activated in the neural cells, RNA sequencing was part of the investigation. Men and women with a history of persistent neuropathic pain were contrasted with those without. The tumors themselves were not the source of their pain. While some individuals experienced chronic discomfort or neuropathic pain due to nerve compression, others did not.

24. …………..were the cells that functioned most strongly in men having neuropathic pain.

Answer: MACROPHAGES

Supporting statement:In men who did have neuropathic pain, macrophages-cells of the immune system-were most active.

Keywords: neuropathic pain, most active

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 8-9

Explanation: According to the text, Immune system cells called macrophages were most active in males who did experience neuropathic pain. Neuropeptides, which resemble proteins and are released by neurons, were more common in women

25. The Brain study suggested that pain was likely to be……………in terms of the biology.

Answer: SEX- DEPENDENT

Supporting statement:This represents the first direct human evidence that pain seems to be as sex-dependent in its underlying biology in humans as we have been suggesting for a while now

Keywords: sex-dependent, biology

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 11

Explanation:According to the text the brain study indicated that the pain was sex dependent in its underlying biology in humans as suggested for a while.

26. Women during the……….used to be refused to be included in medical experiments.

Answer: CHILDBEARING AGE

Supporting statement:Fearful of potential birth defects, in 1977 the FDA cautioned against including women of childbearing age in clinical trials,

Keywords: birth defects, clinical trials

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 3-4

Explanation: According to the text women of childbearing age were prohibited from taking part in clinical trials due to the fear of potential birth defects by the FDA in 1977. which meant women had to use drugs solely designed for men.

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