Oral serum: what is it and what is it for?
Oral serum is a formula, generally in liquid format that favors precisely the replacement of liquids lost during processes as common as vomiting or diarrhea.
In such cases, the body requires salts of sodium, potassium, chlorine, glucose… in summary, minerals that maintain the proper hydration of the body, as well as its proper functioning.
Generally, oral serum is used in cases of mild or moderate dehydration. Dehydration consists of a loss of water in the body, due to different causes such as:
- Diarrheal diseases.
- Due to excessive vomiting.
- By sweating.
- Fever or burns.
- Due to excess urine or sunstroke.
In these cases, special care must be taken, since if these liquids are not replaced quickly, death can even occur in a few hours.
However, it is essential for the body to ingest fluids throughout the day. Likewise, the best liquid to drink in such situations of diarrhea or vomiting is oral serum , since the body, in addition to eliminating water, also eliminates essential minerals and salts for the body that other liquids cannot supply.
Oral serum benefits and side effects
Children, people with pathologies and the elderly are usually the most vulnerable groups when it comes to suffering from dehydration. Some alarm signals that the body sends to indicate that it is in danger of dehydration are listlessness, fatigue, dry mouth and tongue, dry skin, dizziness, nausea…
Therefore, the main benefit of oral serum will be to alleviate all these common symptoms of dehydration.
With regard to side effects, ingesting the oral serum quickly or very continuously can cause nausea or vomiting, and excessive intake can cause nausea, vomiting, salt overload and edema.
In such cases, it is advisable to interrupt the administration of the serum for at least 10 minutes to resume, later, giving smaller amounts more frequently.
In patients with renal problems, over dosage may lead to hypernatremia and hyperkalaemia.
Who can consume oral serum?
Although the consumption of oral serum is not usually prescribed with a prescription, the possibility of making homemade serum makes it possible for anyone to ingest it. However, there are certain cases in which it is not recommended to consume oral serum:
- Hypersensitivity to said composition or any of its components.
- If the patient presents altered level of consciousness.
- Patients with inability to swallow.
- Patients with vomiting who cannot tolerate the oral route.
- Patients with intestinal obstruction.
- Intestinal perforation.
- Patient with malabsorption of carbohydrates, such as glucose.
- Renal insufficiency.
- Heart failure.
For children
Dehydration caused by diarrhea is one of the major causes of mortality in underdeveloped countries in children under five years of age. This data clearly shows the need to keep the body hydrated at all times.
In the case of children older than one year, the recommended dose of oral serum for children is approximately 200 ml after each diarrheal stool that the child suffers.
In such cases, pediatricians recommend administering said serum frequently and slowly, and in small amounts. In summary, the preset is around 30 ml of oral solution every quarter of an hour, approximately. However, it will always be the pediatrician who establishes the guideline, depending on the case.
For babies
In the case of infants under one month, taking oral serum is not recommended. When they outgrow their first life, the recommended dose for babies is approximately 1-1.5 times their usual volume of food.
As with children over one year of age, this oral solution will be administered slowly and deliberately and in small amounts.
In addition, it is important that those infants who are administered 150 ml of solution for each kilo of weight in less than 24 hours should drink water frequently to avoid hypernatremia (elevated blood sodium concentration) and quench thirst. .
Can it be taken during pregnancy?
Oral serum does not entail any type of risk during pregnancy, so its intake during this stage is allowed. In addition, pregnancy is a process that usually causes vomiting in the first trimester, so avoiding this dehydration will also be essential for pregnant women.
However, there have always been theories about a possible affectation of the fetus due to the consumption of oral serum, although it has not been proven that any of its elements could be harmful for its correct development.
Can you ingest whey without being sick?
As it happens with the consumption of most substances that the body needs to function correctly, the functioning of the organism will not be better by taking more. In fact, it will be useless, since the body itself discards everything it does not need.
The same thing happens with oral serum . If there is no dehydration, the body will not need to see increased levels of sodium, glucose or potassium. In fact, this could lead to gastrointestinal problems; the aforementioned hypernatremia; or other neurological complications.
The best drugstore oral serum
Although it can be made at home, it will always be the best option to buy the oral serum preparation already made. In these cases, the various brands use the exact amounts and resulting in different flavors that are more pleasant for consumption.
In such a case, one of the best drugstore oral serums is Casen fleet Bi-Oral strawberry flavor . This compound, in addition to rehydration salts, provides probiotics that, together, take care of the different problems that affect both adults and children from within the body.
