Test Yourself is where you can improve your reading skills. Whether it’s for tests like University Entrance Exams or IELTS and TOEFL, or even just for fun, these pages help you to read, understand and improve your English.
Read the following story by Arusa Pisuthipan from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.
Thai and French researchers recently announced the world’s first successful gene therapy to permanently cure the blood disorder known as thalassaemia.
A DESIGN FOR LIFE
Life can be very complicated for those who suffer from the condition. Thalassaemia is a genetic blood disorder that leads to anaemia. So patients require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lives. As a result, a patient can accumulate up to 10 million baht in medical bills by the age of 30.
An alternative for those who can afford it is a bone marrow transplant. This provides a permanent cure for the life-threatening disease. But with a less than 50 percent chance of finding a matching bone marrow donor, and with the procedure costing up to 3 million baht, many find this option to be beyond them financially and emotionally.
But the latest medical breakthrough, recently announced by a team of physicians and researchers from Ramathibodi Hospital, provides new hope.
Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the technique involves gene therapy to provide a permanent cure for thalassaemia. A collaborative research effort between Thai researchers and Prof Philippe Leboulch of the University of Paris and Harvard Medical School, the project was carried out under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ramathibodi Hospital’s Faculty of Medicine under Mahidol University and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).
VITAL STATISTICS
According to Dr Suradej Hongeng of Ramathibodi Hospital, one of the project’s researchers, the latest gene therapy technology has completely turned around the lives of three Thai thalassaemia patients.
“Their quality of life has improved tremendously. They no longer require blood transfusions. They can study and work like able-bodied people,” he said.
Thalassaemia is the world’s most common genetic abnormality. In Thailand, there are almost 200,000 people suffering from the blood disease, with up to 3,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Of this number, only around 50,000 to 60,000 patients are lucky enough to get blood transfusions.
There are two types of thalassaemia - alpha thalassaemia and beta thalassaemia. The alpha type has two subcategories - one with no or mild anaemia and one that can be fatal, even before birth.
Beta thalassaemia is another form of the blood disorder - a result of a defective production of haemoglobin, the protein that enables red blood cells to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide. This leads to severe congenital anaemia.
“Around 80 percent of beta thalassaemia patients require blood transfusions throughout their lives. Without the transfusions, they would die. Unfortunately, frequent transfusions are likely to pose a high risk of iron overload, so they need to take medication, which is expensive,” Dr Suradej said.
OPTIMAL SOLUTION
Since bone marrow transplants are beyond the means of most, the new gene therapy, according to Dr Suradej, is expected to be able to lift all the burdens facing patients and their family members.
“The trial was conducted in 22 patients, three of whom were Thais. Afterwards, all were found to be completely cured of thalassaemia,” he said.
The therapy works by inserting a working human beta haemoglobin gene into a patient’s stem cells. This step is conducted outside the body before transplanting the modified cells back into it. The trials were conducted in the United States, Australia, France and Thailand.
“Compared to a bone marrow transplant, the gene therapy results in fewer counter-reactions because it is the patients’ own stem cells that are transplanted back into their body. With a donor’s bone marrow, patients need drugs to suppress the strength of the body’s immune system for a year or two, during which period, they are more open to infection,” he said.
Section 1
Read through the story and answer the following multiple-choice questions.
1. What is the article about?
a. Research on blood transfusions.
b. A new treatment for a genetic disorder.
c. Infections in thalassaemia patients.
2. Which of the following best describes thalassaemia?
a. Unusually high blood pressure.
b. A medical condition in which people are at greater risk of blood clots.
c. An inherited blood disorder.
3. Where does Dr Suradej Nongeng work?
a. At Ramathibodi Hospital.
b. At Harvard Medical School.
c. At Thammasat University.
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true, according to the article?
a. Thalassaemia is the most common genetic abnormality.
b. Almost 200,000 people in Thailand suffer from thalassaemia.
c. Thalassaemia is classified into three types.
5. Where were the trials conducted?
a. In the US and Australia.
b. In France and Thailand.
c. Both a and b are correct.
6. According to Dr Suradej, which of the following is a side effect of frequent blood transfusions?
a. Too much iron.
b. Low blood pressure.
c. Dehydration.
7. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the article?
a. Gene therapy results in more counter-reactions than a bone marrow transplant,
b. About 33,000 new cases of thalassaemia are diagnosed in Thailand each year.
c. Approximately 80 percent of beta thalassaemia patients require blood transfusions throughout their lives.
Section 2
Match each of the following words with the correct definitions from the choices given.
| 8.accumulate | a. (of a disease or medical condition) existing since or before birth |
| 9.abnormality | b. not perfect or complete |
| 10.congenital | c. to prevent something from growing, developing or continuing |
| 11. defective | d. to gradually get more and more of something over a period of time |
| 12. suppress | e. a feature or characteristic in a person’s body or behaviour that is not usual and may be harmful, worrying or cause illness |
| 13. means |
f. the money that a person has |
Section 3
Read the following passage. Then, fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.
…..14….. this stage, the gene therapy for thalassaemia is not yet available on the service scale. Before public access, the medical procedure needs to be …..15….. by authorities, Dr Suradej said. More importantly, it requires state support, especially in terms of …..16….. investment for internationally-accredited laboratories and …..17….. necessary scientific facilities. “Prevention is still vital when it comes to thalassaemia,” he said. “The goal is to reduce the number of new …..18….. and …..19….. existing patients.”
14.
a. At
b. Until
c. With
15.
a. approve
b. approved
c. approval
16.
a. financial
b. finance
c. financially
17.
a. others
b. another
c. other
18.
a. case
b. cases
c. casing
19.
a. cure
b. curing
c. cured
Section 4
Write down the adjective forms of the following words used in the story.
20. study
…………………………
21. cost
…………………………
22. cure
…………………………
23. technology
…………………………
24. diagnose
…………………………
Answers
Section 1
1. b.
2. c.
3. a.
4. c.
5. c.
6. a.
7. c.
Section 2
8. d.
9. e.
10. a.
11. b.
12. c.
13. f.
Section 3
14. a.
15. b.
16. a.
17. c.
18. b.
19. a.
Section 4
20. Studious.
21. Costly.
22. Curable.
23. Technological.
24. Diagnostic.
SCORE
21-24: Excellent!
17-20: Good.
13-16: Fair.
12 or fewer: You'll do better next time!
