According to a review of 38 studies of patients suffering

Question

According to a review of 38 studies of patients suffering from water retention, a large majority of the patients reported that fasting eased their suffering considerably. Yet fasting is not used to treat water retention even though the conventional medications often has serious side effects.

Which of the following, if true, best explains the fact that fasting is not used as a treatment for water retention?

(A) For a small percentage of patients with water retention, fasting induces a temporary sense of nausea
(B) Getting patients with water retention to fast regularly is more difficult than getting healthy patients to do so.
(C) Fasting regularly over a long period of time can lead to temporary impairment of balance comparable to that induced by consuming several ounces of alcohol.
(D) The dramatic shifts in water retention connected with fasting have not been traced to particular changes in brain chemistry.
(E) The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal.

Minheequang · Answer

IMO E

According to a review of 38 studies of patients suffering from water retention, a large majority of the patients reported that fasting eased their suffering considerably. Yet fasting is not used to treat water retention even though the conventional medications often has serious side effects.

Which of the following, if true, best explains the fact that fasting is not used as a treatment for water retention?

A. For a small percentage of patients with water retention, fasting induces a temporary sense of nausea --> irrelevant
B. Getting patients with water retention to fast regularly is more difficult than getting healthy patients to do so -->irrelevant
C. Fasting regularly over a long period of time can lead to temporary impairment of balance comparable to that induced by consuming several ounces of alcohol -->not too clear
D. The dramatic shifts in water retention connected with fasting have not been traced to particular changes in brain chemistry -->irrelevant
E. The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal -->  the best: after stop fasting, water retention turns back in full force --> fasting is not used for treating water retention

ichha148 · Answer

Between C and E , I will go with C however E is also a strong contender

C. Fasting regularly over a long period of time can lead to temporary impairment of balance comparable to that induced by consuming several ounces of alcohol --> This can be a reason as Fasting regularly can cause temporary impairment
 
E. The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal --> Water retention was already there without fasting and Fasting provides a temp. relief to the patient.So, Fasting should be used.

prasannar · Answer

C. Fasting regularly over a  long period of time  can lead to temporary impairment of balance comparable to that induced by consuming several ounces of alcohol.-> spoiler there is nothing that hints in the question about

E. The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal.-> Correct, even if used as a solution, it fails the moment fast is broken so of no use as a solution thus E for me.

mbaMission · Answer

Contenders are C and E.

With option C IMO Fasting  regularly  and that too  over a long period  can lead to temporary impairment of balance comparable to that induced by consuming several ounces of alcohol.

Finally, E makes more sense

hardnstrong · Answer

I will go with E

it is the strongest contender

gmatbull · Answer

stem: fasting, according to the patients, eased their suffering -water retention - considerably.
Counter-stem: fasting is not recommended for water retention even though conventional medications often have serious side effects.

question: justify why fasting is actually NOT used as a treatment for water retention.

Possibility is that, while fasting, the symptoms of water retention where masked, and that the report (suggesting ease in suffering) was taken during fasting....this is exactly what option E states.

proccountant · Answer

My pick is E) The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal
 Basically, it states that fasting can only briefly fix the problem because people at some point have to eat.

C was tempting at first but it refers to an effect of fasting that has no connection on whether it can keep water retention down "directly" so I put it out of scope.

Indien · Answer

hey...there is another question just like this .... depression and missing sleep ...what do you reckon is the source of this question

Of course E is the answer for both the questions.

agnok · Answer

By the way...

There is a similar question in the OG some where that talks about using sleep deprivation as a treatment for depression. What is the source of this question?

geturdream · Answer

I will go with E.

We have to find out the demerits of Fasting. C and E both state that but in C the effect is temporary. In E as song as the patient is fasting, he is ok. But as he cannot fast forever, he has to break it and then the problem of water retention comes back.

So its E

hemanthp · Answer

E indeed.
C says it temporarily causes ..blah blah... which means the fix has actually worked and in a few hours or days... the patient will be fine.... so C is not the answer.

psychomath · Answer

As someone pointed out....there is an exact similar Q like this - in the gmatprep...... :-)

So made the choice all the more easier - E

timmyd · Answer

E seems correct. States that fasting is only a temp fix.

C. A bit out of scope, also if a temp buzzed feeling was the only drawback that would be ok seeing as the other treatments had side effects as well.

atulmogha · Answer

IMO E is the answer, as no one can fast forever and according to E, as soon as the fast is over the problem of water retention is back again.

dpvtank · Answer

Spent 1 minute 30 seconds on this question. My first line of reasoning is in red and my second line of reasoning is in blue.

metallicafan · Answer

+1 E

Fasting doesn't solve the problem at all. Just as choice E mentions:

"The water retention returns IN FULL FORCE in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal."

harshavmrg · Answer

Here the conclusion is "fasting is not used to treat water retention even though the conventional medications often has serious side effects"

We are asked to support it by the keyword "Best explains"

so checking for all A, B, C, D, E... E is the only one which suggests why Fasting is not considered.. hence the ANSWER

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

According to a review of 38 studies of patients suffering from water retention, a large majority of the patients reported that fasting eased their suffering considerably. Yet fasting is not used to treat water retention even though the conventional medications often has serious side effects.

Which of the following, if true, best explains the fact that fasting is not used as a treatment for water retention?
 
(A) For a small percentage of patients with water retention, fasting induces a temporary sense of nausea  -  this may be true for a small percentage of patients (with water retention). So, the majority of these patients may not suffer from nausea. (A) therefore cannot fully establish the idea that fasting is not used as a treatment for water retention  
(B) Getting patients with water retention to fast regularly is more difficult than getting healthy patients to do so . -  the 'frequency' of fasting is irrelevant in establishing the idea that fasting is not used as a treatment for water retention   
(C) Fasting regularly over a long period of time can lead to temporary impairment of balance comparable to that induced by consuming several ounces of alcohol.  -  the 'duration' of fasting is not discussed in the passage. Hence, we cannot use (C) to establish the idea that fasting is not used as a treatment for water retention
 
 (D) The dramatic shifts in water retention connected with fasting have not been traced to particular changes in brain chemistry.  -  this would advocate for fasting, not weaken it.  
 (E) The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal. - (E) tells us that the purpose of fasting is defeated as soon as the fast is broken. Then what is the use of fasting in the first place? Hence,  (E) is the right answer choice here .

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.

According to a review of 38 studies of patients suffering

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

According to a review of 38 studies of patients suffering

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