Hyperkalemia occurs when the body contains an excessive amount of pota

Question

Hyperkalemia occurs when the body contains an excessive amount of potassium. In severe circumstances, hyperkalemia can lead to abnormal heart rhythms. Lowering potassium levels is essential to treating those who suffer from hyperkalemia. However, patients with severe hyperkalemia are initially given an injection of calcium, even though calcium does not lower the body’s potassium levels. Instead, the calcium protects the heart from the negative effects of excess potassium. Patients are then given doses of a medicine, such as insulin or albuterol, that help reduce potassium levels.

The information given, if true, most strongly supports which of the following?

(A) If an injection of calcium is not given first, medicines such as insulin or albuterol could exacerbate the conditions of severe hyperkalemia.

(B) Patients with mild to moderate hyperkalemia are not given calcium to protect their heart.

(C) Patients given calcium injections cannot be given insulin until the calcium has provided its full effect.

(D) Not all treatments for hyperkalemia are intended to address the root cause of the condition.

(E) Patients cannot reduce their potassium levels without a sufficient intake of calcium.

This is a  CR Butler Question

Check the links to other Butler Projects:
 
  Data Sufficiency Butler  
  Problem Solving Butler  
  Sentence Correction Butler  
  Reading Comprehension Butler  
  Integrated Reasoning Butler

ReetArora · Answer

Confused between A and D. Please explain

glagad · Answer

Hey, So I will give it a try -

We know -
- Hyperkalemia is a result of excess potassium
- It can lead to abnormal heart rhythms; it's essential to lower the potassium levels.
- However, doctors give Calcium injection to start with, even though it doesn't help with Potassium levels
- It's meant to protect the heart
- Insulin injections help reduce the potassium levels

Let's look at D first

This is a reasonable inference, since we know that Calcium injections don't reduce the Potassium levels, given that IT IS the root cause of hyperkalemia.
So - essentially hyperkalemia would not be treated just with Calcium injections.

Lets look at A

So, we know Calcium is meant to protect the Heart from the negative effects of excess potassium, but we can't surely infer that insulin/albuterol can excerabate the  hyperkalemia  condition. What if there is an alternate side effect of Potassium + Insulin?

In the absence of D, A could definitely be inferred. But in the presence of D, A goes slightly beyond the scope.

Hope that helps.

miag · Answer

Hi,

First make sure for inference questions that whatever the option suggests can be logically inferred from the passage without making any additional assumptions
Let's break it down:

a) We don't have any info that tells us what happens if the injection of calcium is not given first so this cannot be a valid inference
b) We are only given information about severe hyperkalemia, no information given regarding mild/moderate hyperkalemia
c) There is no such information given regarding how long one needs to wait after calcium is given before the doses of medicine (insulin/albetrol) should be given
d) This can be deduced. Calcium is mentioned as a treatment step. It is also mentioned that calcium does not reduce levels of potassium. Combining these two, one can deduce that Calcium is clearly used as a treatment step even though it does not address the root cause. It only protects the heart but nowhere is it stated that it is able to address the root cause i.e. excessive amount of potassium in body
e) There are a lot of flaws with this option: i) extreme word usage saying that potassium levels cannot be reduced without calcium intake (this is proposed as one treatment step but nowhere is it mentioned that this is the only way or that all methods need to follow this approach) ii) This option doesn't mention whether the patients we are talking about are those sufferings from severe/moderate/mild hyperkalemia which makes this an overgeneralization since we can only infer for patients who suffer from severe hyperkalemia iii) intake of calcium doesnt necessarily imply we are talking about calcium injections - this could include dietary calcium intake which we are given no information about.

Hope this helps!

ReetArora

Confused between A and D. Please explain

celialem · Answer

The answer I chose was "D" because, according to the passage, patients who suffer from hyperkalemia are first given an injection of calcium, then insulin etc, so that means that the whole treatment for hyperkalemia includes calcium + insulin or albuterol. Now, none of the other answer choices can be properly inferred from the passage except choice D, because the root cause of hyperkalemia is excess potassium, and to address it we have to lower potassium, yet the treatment also includes calcium which doesn't lower potassium, but it does protect the heart, therefore not all the treatments are meant to address the root cause (high potassium), but they still have a role in addressing the condition (protect the heart).

Hyperkalemia occurs when the body contains an excessive amount of pota

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Hyperkalemia occurs when the body contains an excessive amount of pota

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards