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51The following appeared in a medical newsletter.                                                       "Doctors have long suspected that secondary infections may keep some patients from healing quickly after severe muscle strain. This hypothesis has now been proved by preliminary results of a study of two groups of patients. The first group of patients, all being treated for muscle injuries by Dr. Newland, a doctor who specializes in sports medicine, took antibiotics regularly throughout their treatment. Their recuperation time was, on average, 40 percent quicker than typically expected. Patients in the second group, all being treated by Dr. Alton, a general physician, were given sugar pills, although the patients believed they were taking antibiotics. Their average recuperation time was not significantly reduced. Therefore, all patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain would be well advised to take antibiotics as part of their treatment."


By making a comparison between the first group of patients, who took antibiotics regularly and recovered quicker and the second group of patients, who were given sugar pills instead, with longer recuperation time, the recommendation that all patients with muscle strain should take antibiotics as part of their treatment seem logical at the first glance. However, before prescribing large amount of antibiotics for muscle strain patients, the argument should be viewed from other angles.


Any experiment that tries to find out the determining factor by comparison should guarantee the same primary conditions of the subjects. However, the argument fails to provide any detailed information about the two groups of people. The two group of patients may in the different age bracket or healthy condition. For example, patients in the second group are generally older than those of the first group. Thus the younger patients have more energy and strength to overcome their illness. While the older patients may have other illness such as arthritis, which may have negative impact on the muscle strain, therefore prolonging the recuperation time. Or the older the immune system of the older patients are not as strong as that of younger patients, so the older are less likely to recover from muscle strain. Without ruling out such alternatives, any conclusion based on the results of the experiments are unfair.

Even if the two groups of people were the same in healthy state and age, there are still many alternatives that can be responsible for the different results of the study. First, two groups of people were treated by different doctors from different backgrounds. It is entirely possible that the doctor who specializes in sports medicine possess more ability and experience to deal with the muscle strain thing than a general physician. In that case, the fact that the first group of patients recover more quickly than the second group may result from the better skill of the former doctor, rather than the function of antibiotics. Second, patients in the second group, which was used as control group, were given sugar pills in the experiment, but the arguer does not give any explanation about this. The sugar pills may have side effect on the patients’ healing process, exerting negative impact on the recovery of patients and prolonging their recuperation time. Lacking strong evidence which can prove the direct relationship between the function of antibiotics and the cure of muscle strain, the recommendation that all patients should take antibiotics as part of their treatment of muscle strain cannot hold water.

Even if the arguer can substantiate the assertion that taking antibiotics can avoid second infections and thus help patients recover more quickly, it does not follow that all the patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain should take antibiotics, not matter severe or not.
It is entirely possible that only severely hurt patients have the possibility to suffer from secondary infections, thus patients whose injuries were not severe do not have to worry about the secondary infections, let alone taking antibiotics. The patients with slight muscle strain, which is common in daily life, can recuperate after some rest time and do not need to spend money on antibiotics. Even for the patients who suffer from severe muscle strain, it is not safe to advise all the patients to take antibiotics because some patients may be allergic to antibiotics or resist antibiotics. The antibiotics they take may benefit them in the short run, but may contain some potential risk and harm in the long run. Thus before accepting the recommendation, doctors should examine carefully about the specific situation of each patient. At the same time patients should also be ware of the potential harm that antibiotics may bring to them and weigh the benefits and costs before taking antibiotics.

In conclusion, in order to make wise and responsible recommendation for patients, an experiment that clearly show the direct connection between muscle strain and antibiotics is necessary, but the argument fails to do that.

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