【Flyer杀G作文组】1月26日作业Argument188 by mirth

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Argument188
A new report suggests that men and women experience pain very differently from one another, and that doctors should consider these differences when prescribing pain medications. When researchers administered the same dosage of kappa opioids-a painkiller-to 28 men and 20 women who were having their wisdom teeth extracted, the women reported feeling much less pain than the men, and the easing of pain lasted considerably longer in women. This research suggests that kappa opioids should be prescribed for women whenever pain medication is required, whereas men should be given other kinds of pain medication. In addition, researchers should reevaluate the effects of all medications on men versus women.

The argument is well-presented, but not thoroughly well-reasoned.This argument concludes that the pain medication kappa opioids (KO) should be prescribed for women but not for men, besides, women should be given KO whenoever pain medication is required, while men should be prescribed something else. To support this conclusion, the author cites a recent study involving 28 men and 20 women having their wisdom teeth pulled out; according to the patients’ reports, the woman felt less pain than the men, and for the easing of pain lasted shorter in men.This argument is flawed in several critical respects.

A threshold problem with the argument involves the statistical reliablility of the study. It is impossible to draw any conclusion about the general subject from the study because the sample is too limited. The sample could not be representive of the whole cases for women and men.Specifically, the argument overlooks other possible reasons why this group of women reported less pain than men. Maybe the women participating in that study happened to have strong will power and so they can endure the pain better than men. Or perhaps the women may have suffered similar treatments so they are familiar with the pain caused by the extracting teeth.

Even if the study’s participants are representive of the entire population, the argument overlooks other reasons that may cause the result. To get a convincing result from the study, it should be conducted in controlled environment, with all other factors being the same.Perhaps the women took other medications as well to relieve the pain.For that matter, the men might have taken food that may counteract the effect of KO. Or the women may get more encouragements than men, and they might be in the environment of light music to shift their attention from the pain.Another possible factor is the feat of dentists treating the women and the men are different from each other, if the dentists treating the women are superior to the men, it is highly likely that the doctors can operate more gentlely and proficiently to cause less pain to the women.

Even if KO is more effective for women than for men, the argument is ungrounded to draw the conclusion that kappa opioids should be prescribed for women whenever pain medication is required, whereas men should be given other kinds of pain medication. Without comparing the efficacy of medications with that of other medications, it is unwarranted to draw this conclusion. It is entirely possbile that KO is still the most effective painkiller for men while some other medications like Aspirin may have a better effect on women than KO.

In sum, the study’s conclusion is unpersuasive. Before I can accept it, the experiment should be conducted in a controlled environment where all other possible factors possibly affecting pain remained constant. Besides, the patients should be representive of all men and women, at the same time, the patients should have same dental history and willlingness to report their feelings. Without ruling out all these factors, the argument’s conclusion is questionable.