Argument167 飞跃dreams小组-第5次作业

lyokaUID: 2451632

167. A folk remedy* for insomnia, the scent in lavender flowers, has now been proved effective. In a recent study, 30 volunteers with chronic insomnia slept each night for three weeks on lavender-scented pillows in a controlled room where their sleep was monitored. During the first week, volunteers continued to take their usual sleeping medication. They slept soundly but wakened feeling tired. During the second week, the volunteers discontinued their medication. As a result, they slept less soundly than the previous week and felt even more tired. During the third week, the volunteers slept longer and more soundly than in the previous two weeks. This shows that over a short period of time lavender cures insomnia.
A folk remedy is usually a plant-based form of treatment common to traditional forms of medicine, ones that developed before the advent of modern medical services and technology.
Word: 379

In this argument, the author concludes that a folk remedy for insomnia, the scent in lavender flowers, is proved effective from a study, which compares the sleep of 30 volunteers who slept each night for three weeks on lavender-scented pillows in a controlled room. However, there are several flaws which can not lend strong support to what the author says.

In the first place, the 30 volunteers were all asked to sleep on lavender-scented pillows no matter whether they took sleeping medication or not. However, we can not distinguish the effect of the scent in lavender flowers and that of sleeping medicine doing so. In order to make the experiment more persuading, the sleep of the volunteers should be monitored in three separated weeks to exclude the possible interference of the two methods. Besides, when the volunteers are taking sleeping medicine they should not sleep on the lavender-scented pillows. In this way, the result of the study may be more convincing.

In the second place, the author does not compare the sleep of the volunteers completely. We are only informed that during the third week the volunteers slept longer and more soundly than in the previous two weeks; however, that does not necessarily mean that they felt less tired. If the volunteers felt more tired than the previous two weeks, the conclusion that the scent in lavender flowers is more effective is not very convincing.

Last but not least, what insomnia stands for? If the disease simply represents that the patients are hard go to sleep, then monitoring the length of the sleep of the patients and whether they are tired when wakened make no sense. Instead, we should record how long the patients spend falling asleep. Besides, the quantity of volunteers is too limited and a larger number of patients are necessary if we want to get a more credible result. And also, the study is far from saying lavender “cures” insomnia.

To sum up, the conclusion that the folk remedy is effective for insomnia is too hasty and of little credibility. In the absence of more accurate definition of insomnia, we just can not believe whether the result of the study makes any sense. And without further research, it is too early to reach any convincing result.

shallinZUID: 2449645

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