PrepTest 93+, Section 2, Question 11
Wounds become infected because the break in the skin allows bacteria to enter. Infection slows healing. Often bacteria-killing ointment is applied to wounds after they have been cleaned, but a study at a Nigerian hospital found that cleaned wounds that were treated with honey—which contains significant quantities of bacteria—healed faster, on average, than both cleaned wounds treated with antibiotic ointment and wounds cleaned but not otherwise treated.
Wounds become infected because the break in the skin allows bacteria to enter. Infection slows healing. Often bacteria-killing ointment is applied to wounds after they have been cleaned, but a study at a Nigerian hospital found that cleaned wounds that were treated with honey—which contains significant quantities of bacteria—healed faster, on average, than both cleaned wounds treated with antibiotic ointment and wounds cleaned but not otherwise treated.
Wounds become infected because the break in the skin allows bacteria to enter. Infection slows healing. Often bacteria-killing ointment is applied to wounds after they have been cleaned, but a study at a Nigerian hospital found that cleaned wounds that were treated with honey—which contains significant quantities of bacteria—healed faster, on average, than both cleaned wounds treated with antibiotic ointment and wounds cleaned but not otherwise treated.
Wounds become infected because the break in the skin allows bacteria to enter. Infection slows healing. Often bacteria-killing ointment is applied to wounds after they have been cleaned, but a study at a Nigerian hospital found that cleaned wounds that were treated with honey—which contains significant quantities of bacteria—healed faster, on average, than both cleaned wounds treated with antibiotic ointment and wounds cleaned but not otherwise treated.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy between the results of the study and the stated facts about wounds, bacteria, infection, and healing?
Wounds that have simply been cleaned with soap and water and not otherwise treated heal faster than wounds that have been cleaned and then treated with antibiotic ointment.
The bacteria found in honey are present in much lower concentrations than the concentrations of bacteria typically present in infected wounds, and applying antibiotic ointment to a wound rarely if ever kills all of the bacteria infecting the wound.
Honey has properties that inhibit the growth of bacteria in wounds, including the bacteria the honey contains, and antibiotic ointments damage sensitive wound tissue, which slows healing.
The high concentration of sugar in honey inhibits the growth of bacteria in wounds, including the bacteria contained in the honey itself.
The antibiotic ointment used in the study damages sensitive tissue in wounds, which slows healing, but honey does not have this effect if the wound has been cleaned.
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