Argument51 第一篇

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前一次检查，发现好多错，改后重发一遍，求改(n次被封。。。)
TOPIC: ARGUMENT51 - 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 argument in the medical newsletter starts by phrasing a long-term hypothesis of the recuperation time when suffering from severe muscle strain. By making a comparison of the two groups of patients, one taking antibiotics regularly
during the treatment, with the other taking placebos in stead, the recommendation to all the patient with muscle strain seems logically persuasive and convincingly warranted.

However, careful scrutiny of the evidence reveals that it accomplishes little toward corroborating the editorial's assertion. In the first place, the assumption is that as the results of the contrast experiment concern, it is the usage of the antibiotics that accelerates the recovering speed. Unfortunately, this is often not the case, for a variety of possible reason. Perhaps, Dr. Newland is such a veteran doctor with a multitude of effective medical treatment toward severe sports strain that benefits his patients a lot, while Dr. Alton, a green physician, might make little contribution to reduce the convalescence. Or perhaps, the sick in the first group, suffering from some lighter muscle injuries, get much better with the antibiotics, while the ones in the second group are just in the opposite. Aggravating to it, common sense informs me that the conclusion of a scientific research, which
so-called "preliminary", is skeptically supported, sometimes even totally wrong. If so, the author cannot justifiably assure me that a directly correlation between antibiotics and catalysis of healing necessarily proves the former causes the latter.

Even if one accepts the survey results, the argument remains questionable. It is too willy-nilly for the author to overlook the potential side-effect of this kind of treatment, which might invite several more challenging problems. It is most likely that, not only do the antibiotics kill the bacteria easily causing the secondary infection and reinvigorate the muscle organization, but it also kill the friendly bacteria and bring out irreparable damage and disorder to human's body. In short, without taking such alternative possibility into account, the hasty application appears not to be sensible but arbitrary.

Finally, the suggestion also goes not differentiate between severity of injuries. The argument's author fails to furnish any proof to his speculation that each patient diagnosed with diversity of muscle strain can absolutely take advantage of the drugs, corresponding to the seriously strained one. There is no guarantee that an isolated example in the presumption amounts not to be an aberration by any chance. For that matter, the utility of antibiotics, which validly meliorate the treatment at first glance, would probably make no sense to other people at all.

According to the discuss above, any patient with muscle strain, if there is no defensible information, had better refrain from following the newsletter's advise, which relies on a series of dubious assumption. So it is worth cautious consideration to make such advice. Not only should cogent information be provided to further bolster the study result, but it also requires a thorough confidence that the application of antibiotics, as part of the treatment, does take undeniable effect and deserve extensive use credibly.