Are the words "spike" and "precipitate" used properly here?

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The incidence of breast cancer spikes with age in premenopausal women. The risk of breast cancer over time, however, precipitates after menopause when estrogen and progestin levels are at lower levels. It is hypothesized that circulating hormones boost breast cancer risk chiefly by promoting cell proliferation and mutagenesis.

The meaning of the above is as follows:
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The incidence of breast cancer in premenopausal women increases sharply with age. The risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, however, will drop significantly when their progesterone levels generally decline.The currently proposed hypotheses believe that the major mechanism by which the circulating hormones increase the breast cancer risk is that it facilitates cell proliferation and cell mutation.

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 499 • Replies: 12

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@oristarA,

For the reasons that u have indicated,
those words have been properly used.

Spiking refers to its appearance on a graph.

David

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

OmSigDAVID wrote:

For the reasons that u have indicated,
those words have been properly used.

Spiking refers to its appearance on a graph.

David

Thank you Dave.

BTW, in your view, do you think "It is hypothesized that" is logistically identical to "the currently proposed hypotheses believe that" with same rhetorical strength?

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@oristarA,

OmSigDAVID wrote:

For the reasons that u have indicated,
those words have been properly used.

Spiking refers to its appearance on a graph.

David

oristarA wrote:

Thank you Dave.

BTW, in your view, do you think "It is hypothesized that" is logistically identical
to "the currently proposed hypotheses believe that" with same rhetorical strength?

I see a flaw.
A living, sentient being can BELIEVE.
A hypothesis is not alive; it is not sentient. It cannot believe anything.

"The currently proposed hypotheses ARE that . . ." is better.

Please note that logic and logistics are not the same.
Logic is accurate reasoning of the relationships between people or objects; it is of a mathematical nature.

Logistics is the practice or planning of moving or providing of materials to someone.

David

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I'm not sure you can substitute progesterone, a specific hormone, for estrogen and progestin, or cell mutation for mutagenesis, which seems to be a specific kind of mutation. If there's a technical term, I'd be leery of substituting another word for it. In general, in technical papers, the less you change the original the better, since the authors are probably quite a bit more aware of the nuances of terms and their meanings and interrelationships than someone not a specialist in the discipline is.

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@OmSigDAVID,

Thanks Dave.
My English - Chinese has misled me in the definition of "logistically", in which its first definition says that it is identical to "logically".

Okay, do you think "It is hypothesized that" is logically identical
to "the currently proposed hypotheses are that" with same rhetorical strength?

1 Reply

@MontereyJack,

MontereyJack wrote:

I'm not sure you can substitute progesterone, a specific hormone, for estrogen and progestin, or cell mutation for mutagenesis, which seems to be a specific kind of mutation. If there's a technical term, I'd be leery of substituting another word for it.

Progesterone is correct, and so is cell mutation.
The first passage was translated by a non professional for medical science.

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@oristarA,

1. Why are you changing the meaning of the original sentences?

2. 'It is hypothesized' can not be replaced by 'the curently proposed hypotheses' . the first phrase refers to one hypothesis, you can't turn it into a plural just because you like the look or sound (unless it's a poem)

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It's a bit misleading if you present a translation rather than the actual original and ask us to comment on that. If the original says progesterone, go with that. Ditto cell mutation. Why would you ask just about verbs rather than other technical terms if they differ?

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Thanks Dave.
My English - Chinese has misled me in the definition of "logistically", in which its first definition says that it is identical to "logically".

Okay, do you think "It is hypothesized that" is logically identical
to "the currently proposed hypotheses are that" with same rhetorical strength?

Yes.

David

0 Replies

@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

2. 'It is hypothesized' can not be replaced by 'the curently proposed hypotheses' . the first phrase refers to one hypothesis, you can't turn it into a plural just because you like the look or sound (unless it's a poem)

I disagree.
Its perfectly OK to say that a long series of events has been hypothesized.

It is hypothesized that: A, B, C & D
OR
the curently proposed hypotheses that: A, B, C & D are sound.

David

0 Replies

@oristarA,

Back to the original question; this is a common use of the word 'spike'. You will see it in many contexts.

"The risk of breast cancer over time, however, precipitates after. . . ." would more likely be stated as "The risk of breast cancer over time, however, shows a precipitious drop. . . " Sometimes, what is correct can be both surprising and distracting.

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@roger,

roger wrote:

Back to the original question; this is a common use of the word 'spike'. You will see it in many contexts.

"The risk of breast cancer over time, however, precipitates after. . . ." would more likely be stated as "The risk of breast cancer over time, however, shows a precipitious drop. . . " Sometimes, what is correct can be both surprising and distracting.

Thank you Roger.
The pair of spike and precipitate seems have a beauty of symmetry.

Also thanks to Dave and others.

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Are the words "spike" and "precipitate" used properly here?

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