These days, drug companies and health professionals alike

Question

These days, drug companies and health professionals alike are focusing their attention on cholesterol in the blood. The more cholesterol we have in our blood, the higher the risk that we shall die of a heart attack. The issue is pertinent since heart disease kills more North Americans every year than any other single cause. At least three factors - smoking, drinking and exercise - can each influence levels of cholesterol in the blood.

Which one of the following can be properly concluded from the passage?

Which one of the following can be properly concluded from the passage?

A) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is low. 
B) Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking 
C) A high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America 
D) The only way that smoking increases one's risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood 
E) The risk of fatal disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle

Source: LSAT PrepTests

toshio86 · Accepted Answer

Answer should be E.

A) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is low.

The argument states that high cholesterol may increase the risk of fatal heart disease, but it does not say that if one's cholesterol is low then this risk is low. In fact, consider the case in which a person has low cholesterol, but has genetic predisposition towards heart diseases; he will still face a high risk of heart fatal disease. This case clearly contradicts A...thus A is out.

E) The risk of fatal disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle.

Correct. In mathematical terms: variable "cholesterol" influences the variable "risk of heart disease". Can "heart disease" be a fatal disease? Yes, since the argument says that many people are killed by this disease every year.
So cholesterol affects the risk of fatal disease.
Last, does lifestyle affect cholesterol? Yes, for example in terms of smoking, drinking, and exercise habits. Lifestyle affects the risk of fatal disease.
Thus E is correct.

sag · Answer

Just trying to attempt... I might b wrong.. but im learning..

B : Incorrect as no comparison of smoking in Stimulus.
C : Incorrect as not Principle cause
D : Incorrect as it says  Only way

Doubt btw A or E.

When i started this problem i was going with A but in couple of mins i came down to E..

So i think its E..

dimitri92 · Answer

I am curious how you eliminated A ...can you please explain ?

sag · Answer

Yes now i think the ans is A..
As in E i misread  Fatal Disease  with  Fatal Heart Disease ..

If E also would have Fatal Heart Disease mentioned then i would have gone with E as E would be better than A..

onedayill · Answer

E

1. there might other reason exists for a person to have higher risk---eleminated 
2. just says smoking can influence ..no comment on how---eliminated 
3. No points that high-cholesterol food causes high cholesterol in blood--eliminated 
4. No information on smoking--eliminated 
5. this is the nearest hence I have chosen this

cano · Answer

(A) can't be properly concluded from the passage. We don't know what are the other risk factors besides cholesterol in the blood. To be a good option, A should read as: If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is LOWER (in comparison whith a person with high blood cholesterol). Because the stem says: the MORE cholesterol we have in our blood, the HIGHER the risk...

vijayvenky · Answer

will go with E
"can be" is the pick of the word for me.
And A is a clear mistaken negation.

aadikamagic · Answer

a) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is low.  It cannot be assumed that the reverse condition will be true. 
b) Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking. the text doesn't talk about type of smoking 
c)a high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America. "Principal cause" is too generelized 
d) The only way that smoking increases one's risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood. Smoking can have other effects too. 
e) the risk of fatal disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle. This should be correct as the passage is suggesting this.

Please state the OA

dinesh86 · Answer

These days, drug companies and health professionals alike are focusing their attention on cholesterol in the blood. The more cholesterol we have in our blood, the higher the risk that we shall die of a heart attack. The issue is pertinent since heart disease kills more North Americans every year than any other single cause. At least three factors - smoking, drinking and exercise- can each influence levels of cholesterol in the blood.

Which one of the following can be properly concluded from the passage?

a) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is low - Subject under discussion is 'People with High Ch.' hence Irrelevant.
b) Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking - Breaking of category hence wrong.
c) a high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America - Extreme language
d) The only way that smoking increases one's risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood - Ways How smoking influences Ch. level is not the discussion point. Also, extreme language.
e) the risk of fatal disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle - Correct.

Correct If I am wrong in my reasoning... :wink:

sobby · Answer

i was between A and E ..Selected E ....
For A i thought, the passage is specific about more chols. greater chnace of "heart attack" , n answer choice is taking a general case i'e fetal heart disease.there can be other heart disease that does not depend on chols level..so i rejected A

JS1290 · Answer

A is a trap answer in my opinion. Just because if a person has a "low blood cholesterol" doesn't really mean that he or she is ultimately safe. Their risk could be higher as well. The passage doesn't really state anything about "low blood cholesterol" and its correlation with heart disease. E hits the conclusion right in the head

nawaf52 · Answer

I think those who chose "A" failed to identify the type of the question. This is a Must BE True question. The stimulus did not provide any information about relationship between low blood cholesterol and the fatal heart disease.

kumarparitosh123 · Answer

Hello members,
I came down to A and E but I rejected E because I am not sure if we can consider heart disease as a subset of fatal disease.
I mean many other diseases can come under fatal disease. But the argument talks only about heart disease.

Kindly help and correct my reasoning.

Sent from my Lenovo TAB S8-50LC using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

RussianWinters · Answer

Hi,

This is my approach (sharing because I got this question right well within 2 minutes). I try to choose an option which is LEAST WRONG, rather than a PERFECT ONE.

(A) Causal relationship is distorted. Yes, higher the cholesterol, higher the risk of disease. But there are N number of factors which can cause fatal disease EVEN IF cholesterol is ZERO. Therefore, based on the stimulus, we cannot say lower the cholesterol, lower the risk of fatal disease.

(B) Definitely wrong. Cannot deduce this based on the stimulus.

(C) High blood cholesterol is an issue, not high cholesterol diet.

(D) Definitely wrong. Cannot deduce this based on the stimulus.

(E) First things first. If heart disease kills people in NA, then it is fatal. To your second point --> Had it said, "The risk of fatal disease is DECREASED..", it would have been definitely wrong because we cannot deduce that from the question stem as heart disease is not the only fatal disease. However, based on the stimulus, we can definitely deduce that by making CERTAIN changes in the lifestyle (based on the 3 lifestyle factors mentioned in the stimulus), we can ALTER the risk. To help you imagine, let's assume someone is about to get mouth cancer because of tobacco and a heart disease because of smoking. And let's assume that lung cancer is more deadly. Even if this is the case, based on the stimulus, I can still say with confidence that risk of fatal disease can be ALTERED by CERTAIN changes in the lifestyle, without mentioning the nature of alteration.

Hope this explains.

CEdward · Answer

C is terribly tempting. How else can one get high cholesterol in their blood, if not for a high cholesterol diet?

bidskamikaze · Answer

Interesting question.

A) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is low. - Tricky. Notice the exact words used in the passage: The more cholesterol we have in our blood, the higher the risk that we shall DIE of a heart attack. North Americans are likely to DIE of a heart attack if they have high cholesterol. However, high/ low incidence of heart attack isn't specified as a result of high/ low cholesterol. B) Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking - Moderate vs heavy smoking hasn't been discussed in the passage. C) A high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America - This also cannot be inferred. Maybe high cholesterol diet must be coupled with smoking or drinking to entails definite risk of heart attack? we don't know. D) The only way that smoking increases one's risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood - Cannot be inferred. E) The risk of fatal disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle - CORRECT. This can be inferred from the last line of passage. E is correct.

Vishalcv · Answer

The real reason why A is wrong is because the paragraph clearly states that the risk of dying of fatal heart disease is higher and not that the risk of fatal heart disease itself is low. There doesn't seem to be any other alternate explanation to why E is incorrect.

Also, someone has mentioned that reverse logic doesn't apply here, but it does. If higher the blood cholesterol, higher the risk of dying of heart disease, obviously lower blood cholesterol shall carry less risk. There is no point in assuming things like other genetic disorders can cause the disease or whatever. Again, the only reason why A is wrong because of the word "dying"

MBAB123 · Answer

Great points Vishalcv , but I do think that the reverse logic point does not apply. Other factors of course can have an impact. The point is not to assume that other factors exist, but the fact that the argument should specify where those other factors stand. Of course, lower blood cholesterol would decrease the risk, but the option says fatal heart disease is low . There are countless factors that could influence the risk of heart disease, a lower blood cholesterol definitely contributes to decreasing the risk, but just by having a lower level does not mean that you're at a low risk. You might very well have other conditions that would increase the risk. If all other things are equal, yes the reverse logic would probably apply, but not otherwise. There are definitely plenty of things wrong with A!

Nipunh · Answer

The correct answer is:

**(E) The risk of fatal disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle.**

### Explanation:

The passage states that the amount of cholesterol in the blood influences the risk of a fatal heart attack and that three lifestyle factors—smoking, drinking, and exercise—affect cholesterol levels. Since these factors are under human control, changing them can alter cholesterol levels and, consequently, the risk of fatal heart disease. This directly supports answer choice **(E)**.

Now, let's analyze the incorrect options:

- **(A) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is low.** 
 - The passage only states that *higher* cholesterol increases the risk but does not confirm that *lower* cholesterol guarantees a low risk of fatal heart disease. Other factors could contribute to heart disease. Thus, this is not a valid conclusion.

- **(B) Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking.** 
 - The passage does not compare the effects of moderate and heavy smoking. It only states that smoking affects cholesterol levels. There is no basis for concluding that moderate smoking is as risky as heavy smoking.

- **(C) A high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America.** 
 - The passage states that heart disease is the leading cause of death but does not claim that a high-cholesterol diet is the *principal* cause of death. Other factors could contribute to heart disease beyond diet.

- **(D) The only way that smoking increases one's risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood.** 
 - The passage mentions that smoking influences cholesterol levels but does not state that this is the *only* way smoking increases the risk of heart disease. Smoking could have other harmful effects on the heart.

Thus, **(E) is the only answer that is properly supported by the passage.**

These days, drug companies and health professionals alike

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