CAROB BEAN JUICE - A POWERFUL ADJUNCT TO ORAL REHYDRATION SOLUTION TREATMENT IN DIARRHEA

In children, the treatment of acute diarrhoea with the World Health Or ganization (WHO) standard oral rehydration solution (ORS) provides eff ective rehydration but does not reduce the severity of diarrhoea. In c ommunity practice, carob bean has been used to treat diarrhoeal diseas es in Anatolia since ancient times. In order to test clinical antidiar rhoeal effects of carob bean juice (CBJ), 80 children, aged 4-48 month s, who were admitted to SSK Tepecik Teaching Hospital with acute diarr hoea and mild or moderate dehydration, were randomly assigned to recei ve treatment with either standard WHO ORS alone or a combination of st andard WHO ORS and CBT. Three patients were excluded from the study be cause of excessive vomiting. In the children receiving ORS + CBJ the d uration of diarrhoea was shortened by 45%, stool output was reduced by 44% and ORS requirement was decreased by 38% compared with children r eceiving ORS alone. Weight gain was similar in the two groups at 24 h after the initiation of the study. Hypernatraemia was detected in thre e patients in the ORS group but in none of those in the ORS + CBJ grou p. The use of CBT in combination with ORS did not lead to any clinical metabolic problem. We therefore conclude that CBJ may have a role in the treatment of children's diarrhoea after it has been technologicall y processed, and that further studies would be justified.