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Folic acid is a nutrient present in leafy vegetables and some other
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07 Aug 2023, 12:00
07 Aug 2023, 12:00
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Folic acid is a nutrient present in leafy vegetables and some other foods. In the blood, folic acid inhibits the formation of substances found in arterial blockages that commonly cause heart attacks. Moreover, in a long-term study of 10,000 individuals, the subgroup with the highest blood levels of folic acid had fewer heart attacks than the subgroup with the lowest levels. Therefore, a decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
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Folic acid is a nutrient present in leafy vegetables and some other
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07 Aug 2023, 13:07
07 Aug 2023, 13:07
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Bunuel wrote:
Folic acid is a nutrient present in leafy vegetables and some other foods. In the blood, folic acid inhibits the formation of substances found in arterial blockages that commonly cause heart attacks. Moreover, in a long-term study of 10,000 individuals, the subgroup with the highest blood levels of folic acid had fewer heart attacks than the subgroup with the lowest levels. Therefore, a decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
Conclusion: A decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack.
The Story
- Folic acid inhibits the formation of substances found in arterial blockages that commonly cause heart attacks
- In a long-term study of 10,000 individuals, the subgroup with the highest blood levels of folic acid had fewer heart attacks than the subgroup with the lowest levels.
Answer Choice Elimination
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
One way to interpret this statement is: The people had heart attacks because they were on high-fat diets. Folic acid had not much of a role in preventing heart attacks in individuals. Probably those individuals did not have a heart attack because they did not have high-fat diet.
Thus this statement weakens the conclusion.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
A good option to consider.
Let's revisit the conclusion
A decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack
So, the author concludes that one should have a periodic intake of folic acid. A decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack.
This tells us that folic acid cannot be stored or synthesized by the body. One cannot have reserves of folic acid stored in the body ( I wish this were true for fat .. cries in silence ..
)Therefore one must maintain a steady intake of folic acid to prevent an increase in the risk of a heart attack
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
Not relevant to the conclusion. Eliminate this option.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
Thus this statement weakens the conclusion. The statement presents an alternate reason which could have been responsible in preventing heart attack among that group. Hence, we can eliminate this option.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
Not relevant to the conclusion. Eliminate this option.
Option B
General Discussion
Re: Folic acid is a nutrient present in leafy vegetables and some other
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10 Apr 2024, 00:08
10 Apr 2024, 00:08
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Bunuel wrote:
Folic acid is a nutrient present in leafy vegetables and some other foods. In the blood, folic acid inhibits the formation of substances found in arterial blockages that commonly cause heart attacks. Moreover, in a long-term study of 10,000 individuals, the subgroup with the highest blood levels of folic acid had fewer heart attacks than the subgroup with the lowest levels. Therefore, a decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
Premises:
Folic acid is a nutrient present in leafy vegetables and some other foods.
It inhibits the formation of substances found in arterial blockages that cause heart attacks.
In a study, people with the highest blood levels of folic acid had fewer heart attacks than those with the lowest levels.
Conclusion: A decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack.
Important to note here before you proceed - the conclusion says "a decrease in dietary folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack." It doesn't say "a decrease in folic acid will increase the risk of a heart attack." which is what we would have expected.
What would strengthen this claim? We need to strengthen that if one does not consume folic acid in food, one's risk of heart attack increases.
A. Many of the people who had heart attacks during the study were eating a high-fat diet, which is known to contribute to the formation of arterial blockages.
This option makes us doubt the study that the author is using to support his statement. It says that the reason for heart attack in those people was different. It certainly does not strengthen the conclusion about the impact of folic acid.
B. Folic acid cannot be synthesized or stored by the body.
This is interesting. It tells us that folic acid cannot be created or stored by the body. This means that one must consume dietary folic acid. It strengthens the "dietary" part of the claim.
C. Arterial blockages usually take years to develop.
Irrelevant.
D. The group that had the fewest heart attacks also had the best exercise habits.
Again, this makes us doubt the study that the author is using to support his statement. It says that the reason for fewer heart attacks in those people was exercise, not folic acid. Hence it doesn't strengthen the conclusion.
E. The subjects in the study were tested for folic acid levels most frequently in the first two years of the study.
Frequency of testing is irrelevant.
Answer (B)
