Activated carbon is an irreplaceable adsorbent

2023 Author: Alfred Shackley | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 13:14

Activated carbon is a porous substance that has a large specific surface area and a high adsorption capacity. This remedy has been known for a long time - our ancestors used it to treat intestinal poisoning in humans and pets, and to disinfect water.

For many centuries, the substance was made according to the following "technology" - burnt birch coals were left in the steam room for a long time, maintaining steam in order to impart porosity to them.

In modern pharmacology, medicine is made not only from birch coals, but also from coconut shells and even petroleum and coal coke, treating the coal mass with a salt composition under the pressure of steam.

The process is called vapor-gas activation, the resulting substance is environmentally friendly and its price is cheap.

The drug is made in the form of tablets, granules or paste. Activated carbon is used in the chemical industry and medicine.

Activated carbon - medical applications

In medicine, activated carbon is used as an enterosorbent - not long ago there was no alternative to its use. The action of the drug is detoxification and treatment of diarrhea. It can be given to adults and children - the main thing is to correctly observe the dosage.

An effective adsorbent eliminates the intoxication of the body with glycosides, volatile substances, heavy metal salts, acids, medicines, food and infectious toxins. It has little effect on alkalis.

It is recommended to drink activated charcoal in case of drug intoxication - poisoning with "Theophylline", barbiturates and glutethimide.

Currently, charcoal tablets are used not only for the treatment of food, infectious and chemical poisoning - women have noticed that it helps to get rid of excess weight and acne, and use the medicine for cosmetic purposes.

In the instructions for the drug, the use for weight loss is not indicated.

By the way, buyers rarely ask for instructions on the use of activated carbon at the pharmacy - the tablets are sold in paper blasters, even without packaging, and many do not know that it has its own indications and contraindications.

The benefits and harms of activated carbon

It is recommended to drink this enterosorbent in the following conditions:

• with dyspepsia;
• with flatulence;
• to reduce excessive synthesis of digestive juices;
• during the treatment of diseases - enterocolitis, gastritis, cholecystopancreatitis, liver cirrhosis, chronic cholecystitis, atopic dermatitis, bronchial asthma, with hepatitis of various etiologies;
• with infectious diseases - salmonellosis, dysentery, hepatitis of various etiologies;
• with burns - in a state of septicotoxemia and toxemia;
• with food and chemical intoxication.

Activated carbon is given in the treatment of allergies, alcohol withdrawal symptoms, during chemotherapy and radiation exposure.

The tool is recommended for use in preparation for X-ray, endoscopic examination - to reduce the formation of intestinal gases.

It seems to many that charcoal tablets or paste is an absolutely harmless remedy, which - due to its naturalness - has no contraindications. However, this statement is completely wrong.

Drinking natural enterosorbent is not recommended:

• with individual intolerance;
• with any internal bleeding;
• if there are diseases in the anamnesis - peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis.

You cannot combine this drug with drugs that begin to be absorbed immediately after entering the body. It blocks the absorption of drugs, and their action is neutralized.

Side effects from taking activated carbon:

• nausea;
• internal bleeding;
• vomit;
• constipation;
• hypovitaminosis;
• diarrhea;
• hypoglycemia;
• hemorrhage;
• hypotension;
• thromboembolism.

When side effects appear, treatment (and even more weight loss) with this drug must be stopped and the amount of fluid entering the body must be increased.

Also, charcoal tablets can be neutralized using other enterosorbents.

It should be noted that side effects after taking a natural enterosorbent are extremely rare - when the dose is exceeded or when the anamnesis is neglected.

Few people know that there are contraindications to the drug and that it is not universal, and the instructions for charcoal tablets are rarely applied.

Method of using activated carbon

They drink enterosorbent orally - children can crush tablets into powder. For adults, the dosage is calculated according to the following scheme - 1 tablet per 10 kg of body weight. For acute intoxication, adults can double a single dose. It is advisable to take charcoal during the day in 3 doses, but you can drink it at once.

It is impossible to combine the intake of enterosorbent and other medical devices, as well as food - the interval should be at least 1.5-2 hours.

How many days the course of treatment will last depends on the clinical picture - a single dose, 3 days, you can drink it for 2 weeks.

When losing weight, the course of application is 2 weeks, it can be repeated 3 times with an interval of 14 days.

Schemes for the use of enterosorbent for weight loss:

1. They adhere to a fasting diet - mono-diets are unacceptable. The medicine is taken 30 minutes before each meal, which limits the absorption of food into the body. Slimming course - 3 days. Do not drink more than 7 tablets at a time.
2. Losing weight is prolonged. In this case, you need to choose a diet designed for 2 weeks. Before meals, take 3 tablets. In this case, the daily dosage is 9 tablets per day. The course of treatment is 10 days.

When losing weight with enterosorbent, it is advisable to use cleansing enemas.

The dosage for dyspeptic disorders is calculated according to the general scheme, the course of treatment is up to 4 days.

In case of intoxication - it is advisable to take coal powder, first diluting it in half a glass of water, the dosage is the same.

If the enterosorbent is recommended to be introduced into the therapeutic regimen when eliminating diseases, the symptoms of which are the processes of decay or fermentation in the stomach, then 10 mg of this agent is taken within 10-14 days, 30 minutes after eating.

Can the drug be given to young children?

Babies under one year old - no, but children from one year old with caution.

• Up to seven years, only coal powder diluted with water should be used - 5 mg 3 times a day (crushed half a tablet, if the powder cannot be obtained);
• children from 7 to 10 years old are given a dose of 7 mg / 3 times a day;
• children from 10 to 14 years old can be given 1 tablet 3 times a day.

After eliminating the symptoms of the disease, due to which the natural enterosorbent began to be used, it can be canceled immediately, in one day. It does not cause addiction.

When treating acne, charcoal powder can be used indefinitely. Since the application is external, it has no effect on the body.

Despite the fact that activated carbon has been tested on many generations of patients and has proven its effectiveness, it is better to give children after digestive upset other remedies - more modern and acting on the body are much milder, without blocking the absorption of nutrients. This group of drugs includes: "Polysorb", "Filtrum-STI", "Polifan", "Enterosgel", "Smecta" and the like …

They can help both children and adults much faster, and they cause fewer side effects. "Smecta" and "Polysorb" can be used even by patients with peptic ulcer disease. They have one drawback - all these medicines are much more expensive than the "good old" activated carbon.