Argument167 第一篇，熏衣草

cherrysandUID：2224404

TOPIC: ARGUMENT167 - 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.

WORDS: 241 (478)         TIME: 00:30:00          DATE: 2007-8-8 14:07:46

This argument concludes that the scent in lavender flowers is effective for curing insomnia based on a recent study. The author gives general information about how this experiment is conducted during three weeks. The conclusion, however, is specious and unconvincing in many ways.

First of all, there are some problems with the experiment sample. Limited number of subjects involving in this experiment makes the result unpersuasive. Only 30 volunteer indicates statistic insufficiency. Further, the author fails to provide those experiment subjects’ detailed health condition, age, gender, or other related information which guarantee a reliable outcome of this experiment. Therefore, all their following analysis and interpretation of the patients' responses could be based on an unscientific research methodology. According to basic knowledge, medication applied to different individuals varies on a large scale. Therefore, the experiment subjects should be selected in a careful and scientific way in order to make the result convincing.

Secondly, the description of the experiment is misleading and the analysis of it is rather dubious. It is obvious that both the lavender-scented pillow and the sleeping medication can affect the patients’ sleeping. After discontinuing their usual medication, the patients can only rely on the pillow to cure insomnia. The shift from the second week to the third week, at the first glance, does indicate that their sleeping quality is improved. However, this does not mean that their insomnia is effectively cured in a short period of time. Perhaps the scent of lavender flowers can only relieves this sleeping problem but can not fundamentally make the patients wholly recover from insomnia. Or it is entirely possible that the improved sleeping condition is due to the effect of the first week’s usual medication.（但为什么第二周不起作用呢？有点不对~）

Further, the author unjustifiably assumes that the patients can sleep longer is a good indicator of the effectiveness of lavender flowers. It is entirely possible that sleeping longer reflects other health problems posed by lavender flowers -- that is sleeping too much, like lacking sleep, indicates sub-health, either.

Finally, another indicator of patients’ recovery -- whether the patients wake tired or not -- if the author takes it into consideration, remains unknown in the third week. It is entirely possible that those patients wake even more tired in the last week than in the previous two weeks, and thus proving just the opposite of the author's conclusion.

Summing up, more scientific statistics and experiment facts should be cited as evidence to prove the effectiveness of this treatment concluded by the author. A reliable analysis depends on a larger sample of subjects. The relationship between symptoms and effect is to be reconsidered. The indicators for the effectiveness of such treatment should be analyzed in a persuasive way.

[ 本帖最后由 cherrysand 于 2007-8-8 16:13 编辑 ]