Self-study
As advances in medical research and technology have improved the ability of the medical profession to diagnose and treat a wide variety of illnesses and injuries, life spans have increased and overall health has improved. ████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ █████ ███ ████ █ ██████ ███ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ███████████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why has there been a steady, significant increase in the rate of serious infections, even though advances in medical research and technology have improved the ability to diagnose and treat a wide variety of illnesses, which has increase life spans and overall health?
Objective
The correct answer should tell us about something has changed over time in a way that could lead to a higher rate of infections today compared to the past.
26.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ███████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██████
a
It remains true ████ ███████ █████████ █████████ ███████████ ███████████ ███ ██ █████████████
This doesn’t suggest anything has changed over time. Even if ineffective medications somehow lead to infections, we have no reason to think this tendency to prescribe ineffective medications has increased over time.
b
Life spans have █████████ █████████ ███████ ███████ ██████ ███ █████████
But why might people have a higher rate of serious infections today despite better health? This answer doesn’t help answer that question.
c
The vast majority ██ ███████ ██████████ ███ ███ ████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ████████████████
If most serious infections are now curable, why is the rate of serious infection going up? This answer makes the discrepancy more difficult to explain.
d
As a population █████████ ██ █████ █████ ██ █ ████████ ████████████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███████ ███████████
A proportional increase in the number of infections doesn’t change the rate of infection in the population. Rate of infection involves a measure of number of infections divided by the population. The stimulus says the rate of serious infection has increased.
e
Modern treatments for ████ █████████ █████ █████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ██████████████ ██ ██████████
This is a reason the rate of serious infection might be higher today despite the increase in life span and overall health. Modern treatments, as they are used in a higher proportion of people over time, increases susceptibility to infection, leading to a higher rate of infection.