Oral rehydration salts and solutions are products that are indicated to replace accumulated water and electrolyte losses, or to maintain hydration, in people with vomiting or with acute diarrhea.
Solutions are ready -made products that contain electrolytes and water, while salts are only electrolytes that still need to be diluted in water before being used.
Oral rehydration is a very important step in the treatment of vomiting and diarrhea, as it prevents dehydration, which can have serious consequences for the body. Learn how to identify the signs and symptoms of dehydration.
What products to use
Salts and oral rehydration solutions can be found in pharmacies with the names Rehidrat, Floralryte, Hydrafix, Peialyte or Hydrayte, for example. See how to use Hydrayte.
These products have in their composition sodium, potassium, chlorine, citrate, glucose and water in their composition, which are essential to prevent dehydration.
How to use
Oral rehydration solutions should only be used if recommended by a healthcare professional.
Generally, these solutions or salts diluted, should be ingested after each diarrheal or vomiting, in the following quantity:
- Children up to 1 year of age: 50 to 100 ml;
- Children 1 to 10 years old: 100 to 200 ml;
- Children and adults over 10 years old: 400 ml or as needed.
In general, oral rehydration solutions and prepared salts should be preserved in the refrigerator after opening or prepared within 24 hours.
Also read: Peialyte: What is it for and how to take (Peialyte 45, Max and Children)
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Do juices, teas and soups replace oral rehydration?
To maintain hydration, industrialized or homemade liquids can be used, such as juices, teas, soups, homemade serum and green coconut water.
However, these liquids have little sodium and potassium, so they are not suitable for rehydration in more severe cases of dehydration, as they may not replace the necessary mineral salts.
Thus, in more severe and justified cases by the doctor, it is recommended that oral rehydration be done with industrialized solutions whose concentrations of its constituents are within the ranges recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In addition, the use of homemade serum should be avoided as a reidractor in more severe cases, as its composition may present concentrations of very varied solutes, such as risk of being inadequate because it contains more sugar and/or more salt than recommended.
Source: www.tuasaude.com