- 最后登录
- 2012-3-24
- 在线时间
- 602 小时
- 寄托币
- 1859
- 声望
- 29
- 注册时间
- 2008-8-8
- 阅读权限
- 25
- 帖子
- 5
- 精华
- 0
- 积分
- 1505
- UID
- 2529289

- 声望
- 29
- 寄托币
- 1859
- 注册时间
- 2008-8-8
- 精华
- 0
- 帖子
- 5
|
本帖最后由 greenxs 于 2009-6-2 00:04 编辑
题目
The 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."
The author of this medical newsletter suggests that all patients who have muscle strain would be well advised to take antibiotics as part of their treatment. To support the conclusion, he/she shows evidences that secondary infections may keep some patients who has severe muscle strain from healing quickly. Then the author gives two groups’ experiments to establish the suggestion. However, further examination of the relationship between conclusion and evidences reveals that this argument is flawed in several critical aspects.
The major problem of this argument is that the author does not different people with muscle strain and people who suffer from secondary infections. The evidence shows an assumption that secondary infection may slow patients healing, but the author does not provide any information about how many of patients with severe muscle strain will have secondary infection. Then, the author gives a study of two groups of patients to prove the assumption. There are also no facts could reveal that the two groups of patients have troubles of secondary infections. Without enough evidences and clear relation between the assumption and proofs, we could not accept the study has proved the hypothesis.
Even though we assume that two groups of patients had suffered from the secondary infections. The author has not provided sufficient evidences which could prove recuperation of the first group is because of taking antibiotics. There is no particular information about the two groups of patients, such as their ages, health situation, and degree of severe muscle stain. Maybe patients in the second group are younger than the first group, so they have better health condition and recovered quickly. The author also overlooks the different doctors of the two groups which may influence the experimental result significantly. Since the doctor of the first group is who specialized in sports medicine, he/she may know how to treat such problems very professionally. And Dr. Alton who treated the first group is a general physician who may lack of experiences of curing severe muscle strain. Therefore, without ruling out all the possibilities, we could not sure that the first group of patients has healed quicker than the second group is because of taking antibiotics.
Last but not least, even assuming that taking antibiotics may work on rehabilitating muscle strain, the conclusion that all patients who have this trouble would take antibiotics is unwarranted. The disadvantages of this suggestion are apparently overweighed to its advantages, since not each patient who has muscle strain will have to take antibiotics. It is well known that antibiotics not only use to prevent infectious diseases, but also have some side-effects. Let alone there are some patients who are sensitive to antibiotics. For these reasons, we could justify that this suggestion is not feasible.
All in all, the author fails to prove the hypothesis and the conclusion. To better evaluate the suggestion, we need more accurate evidences that the relation between the hypothesis and the study, more information about the experiments of the two groups and rule out all the negative elements of the suggestion. After all, a wrong suggestion of treatment will be more dangerous than taking no medicine at all.
|
|