Homemade serum is a solution based on water, salt and sugar that can be made at home and is used for treatment and prevention. Today you will learn how to make saline at home. Made for dehydration in patients with diarrhea or vomiting.
Dehydration caused by gastroenteritis is still one of the main causes of death. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 3 million children still die from complications caused by diarrhea🇧🇷 See now what it's for and how to do it.
What is it for?
The homemade serum, for many years was the most suitable solution for the treatment of dehydration. Which are caused by diarrhea. When a patient has diarrhea or vomiting, he becomes dehydrated because he loses a large volume of water.
But this loss is not pure water, along with the water there is a loss of several mineral salts, such as potassium, sodium and bicarbonate. Replacement should be done with water and electrolytes to prevent the patient from developing severe hydroelectrolytic alterations.
Hence, the homemade serum, which contains sodium chloride and glucose. So it turns out to be the most appropriate formula to replace losses caused by diarrhea. Despite the diarrhea, the intestinal capacity to absorb glucose and mineral salts, especially sodium, is usually intact in patients.
How to make saline?
Homemade serum is a solution consisting of
- 3.5 grams of salt
- 20 grams of sugar diluted in 1 liter of filtered or previously boiled water.
- In practice, this means 1 teaspoon of salt + 1 tablespoon of sugar.
The problem with this way of preparing homemade whey is the frequency with which the solution is prepared with the wrong amounts, either salt or sugar. When using common kitchen spoons, the amount of salt and sugar ends up varying a lot, depending on who is going to prepare the whey.
To avoid these preparation errors, there are standard spoons recommended by UNICEF, as exemplified in the image below. You can find spoons with the correct measurements at popular pharmacies or health centers.
In this case, just mix:
- 1 shallow measure of salt and two shallow measures of sugar in 200 mL of water so that the serum has concentrations closer to those recommended by the Ministry of Health and the WHO.
It is important to pay attention to the amount of water. If you are going to use common kitchen spoons, the amount of water is 1 liter. If you have the standard spoon to prepare the serum, the amount of water is 200 mL. The validity of the homemade serum is 24 hours.
How to take?
Taken throughout the day in small but more frequent doses to avoid rapid distension of the stomach. There are several ways to calculate the rate of administration of homemade serum. Let's suggest some options:
- 150 to 300 mL per hour.
- 1 dessert spoon every 2 minutes, in order to consume a glass per hour.
- 10 mL per kilogram of weight each time the patient has an episode of diarrhea.
- 2 mL per kilogram of body weight each time the patient has a vomiting episode.
- In children, the recommended dose is 50 mL per kilogram of weight every 4 hours. Ex: a child weighing 10 kilos should consume 500 mL of saline within 4 hours.
The goal is to try to ingest at least the same amount of liquid that was lost in diarrhea and vomiting. This is not always easily estimated. Therefore, the feeling of thirst can be a good tip. The patient should be hydrated so as not to be thirsty or have a dry mouth.
Dehydrated patients present urine with a more concentrated color, with a stronger odor and with little volume.
