In Holguin province, activated charcoal has been used for more than five years in the rehabilitation services of the pediatric hospital Octavio de la Concepcion de la Pedraja. In view of the good results obtained with the use of this natural product, there are plans to progressively extend this therapy to several health areas of the provincial capital city.
Activated charcoal therapy, pediatric patient, Holguin
According to one of the main authors of this research, Yunelis Pérez Concepción, “an evolution in the use of this product has been observed over time. We have seen how children who with conventional medicines did not resolve the problem, after 15 or 20 days of treatment with vegetable charcoal improved notably, thus reducing the hospital stay”.
She added that some of them are even discharged with the treatment to their homes. From there, it is proposed to generalize the research to the Alcides Pino Bermudez and Pedro del Toro polyclinics, with the intention of generalizing it to the whole province.
Activated charcoal is a medicine that is part of the basic drug list, which has been very effective for years in counteracting intoxications in on-call services.
However, “taking into account its biomolecular and physiological functioning, we set ourselves the task of investigating other uses. Hence, it began to be used in inflammations and septic processes of the skin, from the property of absorbing molecules in liquids and gases we apply it transdermally, with very good results,” said the specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
In that sense, for therapeutic purposes as of 2018, the first patient who benefited was a little girl who could not walk and was going to undergo a knee operation, but by applying a poultice with charcoal in five days she managed to recover and the inflammation disappeared. With this first experience, the scientific council of the hospital decided to initiate a research project with the charcoal available in the institution.
As the excellent results of the charcoal were appreciated, the therapeutic arsenal was expanded. During this time, around three thousand patients have benefited from its use, an achievement that translates into a significant saving of resources for the health sector, since it can be applied in the patients’ own homes.
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