Medical reporter: Studies have consistently found that taking an aspir

Question

Medical reporter: Studies have consistently found that taking an aspirin a day thins the blood slightly, thereby helping to prevent or reduce the severity of heart disease. Since heart disease is one of the most common types of ill health in industrialized nations, most people in such nations would, therefore, be in better health if they took an aspirin a day.

The reasoning in the doctor's argument is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?

(A) It takes for granted that if medication can reduce the severity of heart disease, it can also prevent some cases of heart disease.

(B) It overlooks the possibility that even if a disease is one of the most common in a nation, most people in that nation are not in significant danger of developing that disease.

(C) It overlooks the possibility that preventing or reducing the severity of heart disease has little or no effect on any of the other most common diseases in industrialized nations.

(D) It fails to address the possibility that taking an aspirin a day is not the single most effective measure for preventing heart disease."

(E) It fails to address the possibility that the studies on the beneficial effects of aspirin were conducted only in industrialized nations.

LSAT

snreddy · Answer

If most people in that nation are not in significant danger of developing that disease , then how it is one of the most common in that nation ?

Manfo · Answer

Due to better health conditions in the industrialized nations most of the people are not in danger of developing any disease. Therefore even if heart disease is the most common among all diseases in these nations, its incidence on the population could still be low.

As a consequence B is the best answer.

Hope it helps

TaN1213 · Answer

Imagine a scenario where 60% (most people) of the population is not in the danger of developing any disease and for the rest of 40% heart disease is as common as flu. In such a case, you have your answer.

Akash720 · Answer

+1 for B

(A) It takes for granted that if medication can reduce the severity of heart disease, it can also prevent some cases of heart disease.
 - Incorrect. This is not a statement which can be criticized as it agrees with the doctor's argument.  
(B) It overlooks the possibility that even if a disease is one of the most common in a nation, most people in that nation are not in significant danger of developing that disease.
  - Correct. Suppose there are 1000 people in a nation and around 10 people in that nation have heart diseases, no other person has any other problem. This concludes that the most common disease in the nation is heart disease. But in actual only 10 out of 1000 people are affected by it. There is no use if most people in the nation take aspirin without any reason. Therefore, this possibility was overlooked.  
(C) It overlooks the possibility that preventing or reducing the severity of heart disease has little or no effect on any of the other most common diseases in industrialized nations.
 - Incorrect. Other diseases are out of scope 
(D) It fails to address the possibility that taking an aspirin a day is not the single most effective measure for preventing heart disease."
 - Incorrect. Other measures are out of scope 
(E) It fails to address the possibility that the studies on the beneficial effects of aspirin were conducted only in industrialized nations.
 -Incorrect. It doesn't matter where the studies were conducted

saikrishna96 · Answer

IMO Option C is also a suitable answer, since the argument seems to generalize better health with just preventing heart disease.  Bunuel  Any thoughts?

egmat · Answer

saikrishna96

Great question! Let's clarify why option C isn't the correct answer here.

I understand your reasoning - you're thinking that the argument inappropriately equates preventing heart disease with achieving "better health overall." This is a reasonable concern, but let me explain why option C doesn't actually capture the main flaw.

Why Option C Doesn't Work:

The argument claims people would be in  better health  if they took aspirin daily. Notice it doesn't claim they'd have  perfect health  or that all their health problems would be solved. The logic is simply:

Aspirin helps prevent/reduce heart disease 
 Therefore, taking aspirin → less heart disease → better health than without aspirin

This is actually sound reasoning! If you prevent  any  disease, you're in better health than if you had that disease. The argument doesn't need aspirin to affect other diseases for this claim to be valid.

The Real Flaw (Option B):

The critical error is in the phrase  "most people."  The reporter jumps from:
- "Heart disease is  one of the most common  diseases" 
to
- " Most people  would be in better health"

But think about it: Even if heart disease affects, say, 30% of the population (making it very common), that still means 70% of people aren't at significant risk. The argument assumes that because a disease is common in aggregate statistics, the majority of individuals face that risk - which isn't necessarily true.

Key Distinction: 
 
  Option C's concern:  Does preventing one disease = better overall health? (Answer: Yes, it does) 
  Option B's concern:  Do most people actually need this prevention? (Answer: Not necessarily)

Test-Taking Strategy: 
When evaluating answer choices in flaw questions, ask yourself: "If this criticism were addressed, would the argument become valid?" If we addressed option C by saying "Yes, preventing heart disease alone does improve health," the argument would still be flawed because we haven't established that  most people  need this prevention.

Hope this clarifies the distinction! The key is recognizing when an argument makes unwarranted assumptions about  who  would benefit versus  how much  they would benefit.

saurabhbajpai · Answer

My concerns with option B -

There would still be some people facing some danger. Wouldn't improving that improve the overall health?

egmat · Answer

saurabhbajpai  I can see where you're coming from - if aspirin helps some people with heart disease, that does seem like it would improve overall health to some degree.

The Key Issue

However, let's look precisely at what the conclusion claims: " MOST people in such nations would be in better health if they took an aspirin a day. "

The conclusion doesn't say "overall health would improve" - it specifically claims that  MOST people  would be in better health individually.

Here's the critical gap:

Heart disease is "ONE OF the most common" diseases 
 But "one of the most common" could mean it affects  15\% ,  20\% , or even  30\%  of the population 
 Even if aspirin helps everyone in that  15-30\% , what about the other  70-85\% ?

Option B identifies this exact flaw: just because heart disease is common doesn't mean MOST people are at significant risk. If most people aren't at risk, they won't benefit from daily aspirin (and might even face side effects like stomach bleeding).

So yes, you're right that  some  people would benefit. But the conclusion makes a much stronger claim - that  most  people would be better off - which isn't supported by the premises.

saurabhbajpai · Answer

Thank you so much. Missed the keyword 'Most' in the conclusion. This is really helpful.

saurabhbajpai · Answer

Thank you so much. Missed the keyword 'Most' in the conclusion. This is really helpful.

Medical reporter: Studies have consistently found that taking an aspir

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