#12- The hearts of patients who are given vitamin E

[ChicaRosa]

When I did this question under timed conditions I was stuck between A and B and chose A as a quick guess but I'm having a hard time understanding why it's the correct answer?

Is A correct because it's suppose to justify the need for patients to take Vitamin E before going through surgery while B contradicts what is stated in the stimulus?

Thank you!

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi ChicaRosa,

Good question! This is a Resolve the Paradox question, so you need to identify what the paradox is and then find the answer choice that explains it. Here, the paradox is that, from 6 hours post surgery on, Vitamin E doesn't make a difference, but despite that, doctors still recommend it. Why would that be? My pre-phrase here is that doctors are concerned about the first 6 hours and not just after the first 6 hours have passed; do you see how that would explain the paradox I identified?

With that in mind, looking at the answer choices, A matches that pre-phrase. It's saying complications put patients at risk in those first 6 hours, which explains why doctors would recommend Vitamin E even though it won't make a difference beyond 6 hours. B, on the other hand, doesn't give you any information about the effect of Vitamin E; even if some patients who haven't had Vitamin E have complications after 6 hours, it is also possible that the same number of patients who have had Vitamin E have complications after 6 hours. B doesn't contradict the stimulus, but it just doesn't address it either way.

[lsatmike]

I originally chose D but it was wrong.

Argument: Despite patients who took vitamin E and patients who did not take vitamin E have equal levels of heart function and recovery, doctors often recommend vitamin E for patients who undergo heart surgery.

Looking for something that explains why doctors still recommend vitamin E despite seemingly having no effects.

A) Wrong, not relevant. doesnt address argument
B) Wrong, then that means those who did take vitamin E have the same chance for complications.
C)Right? If it takes less than six hours for the heart to recover, then that means heart complications might usually happen before the six hours which means that the vitamin E might actually have an effect before six hours.
D) I am not sure how this is relevant. I first chose this answer because I was not sure about any answers.
E) This means that vitamin E are a placebo and have no effect. then why do doctors still recommend it?



I was still wrong. The answer was A.Complications pose the greatest threat to patients during the first six hours. I can use my explanation for answer C to explain this answer. Vitamin E has the most effect during the first 6 hours when the greatest threat is posed and not after 6 hours.

C was wrong because It doesnt explain why doctors recommend Vitamin E. Who cares if the heart recovers before 6 hours.

[Adam Tyson]

Hey Mike, thanks for sharing your thought process here. Following up on what Emily said earlier in this thread, the issue raised in the stimulus is the six-hour mark. Notice that after six hours we are only comparing the survivors from both groups. The question that raises is what were the survival rates up to that point? What if the ones who got no vitamin E almost all died in the first six hours? That would be important to know! Answer A tells us something like that - vitamin E is apparently an important factor in surviving those first six hours for things to even out between the two groups.

Noticing that we are comparing the survivors in both groups should help a lot. That should make you wonder what percentage of each group made it that far!

Keep at it! Good luck!

[Robert Carroll]

Mike,

The stimulus does not say that vitamin E makes no difference. After six hours, the survivors from both groups show similar outcomes, but note that if people from one group died before six hours, they would not be included in the survivors. Thus, you'd be looking for vitamin E making a particularly important difference within the six-hour time frame. Based on your explanation at the end, though, I think you understand now why answer choice (A) successfully resolves the paradox in this situation - it's all about differences early on, before six hours have passed.

If anything remains unclear, please let me know.

Robert Carroll

edit: before I posted, it appears Adam said essentially the same thing.