Can albumin injections really improve immunity?

Not long ago, a friend asked someone to help buy a few bottles of albumin, on the grounds that he was not in good health and wanted to improve his immunity by injecting albumin
.
Zeng Weihua, the special author of this edition and deputy chief pharmacist of Anshan Central Hospital in Liaoning Province, introduced that the full name of albumin is called "human blood albumin", no matter what the disease, it may be used in the most serious stage, so many people think that albumin cures all diseases and has a miraculous effect on improving immunity, but this is not
the case.
So what exactly is this drug for?

The main function is to "retain water" for blood vessels

The blood of the human body flows in the blood vessels, and if you want the blood to stay honestly in the blood vessels and not run out of the blood vessels, you need to maintain a high osmotic pressure in the blood vessels
.

There are two kinds of human plasma osmolality, one is crystal osmolality, which is mainly provided by small molecular substances such as sodium ions, glucose, urea, etc.
; The other is colloidal osmolality, which is mainly provided
by plasma proteins.
Albumin is the main protein in plasma, and the human body contains about 35 grams to 50 grams per liter of blood, accounting for 50%
of the total plasma protein.
It is synthesized by the liver and degraded
in muscles, intestines, liver, kidneys.

The main function of albumin is to maintain the colloidal osmotic pressure of the blood, regulate the dynamic balance of water between tissues and blood vessels, and avoid the penetration of water in blood vessels into surrounding tissues
.
In other words, the role of albumin is to "absorb" water and prevent it from running out of the blood vessels
.

Therefore, albumin can be used clinically for shock caused by blood loss, trauma, burns, etc
.
due to a large amount of fluid exudation.
Because albumin does not cross the blood-brain barrier, it can also be used to treat cerebral edema, "suck" water out of brain tissue, and to regulate fluid balance
during acute respiratory distress syndrome and cardiopulmonary bypass.
In addition, albumin can also be used to prevent and treat hypoproteinemia, peritoneal effusion, renal dialysis, neonatal jaundice, and mercury poisoning (albumin has a certain detoxification effect).

Why can't you use it casually

Although albumin has the above various therapeutic effects, it is different from ordinary drugs, has strict rules of use, and must not be abused
.

The first thing to be clear is that albumin does not improve immunity
.
Related to human immunity is globulin, not albumin
.
The role of albumin is only "water absorption", and there is no effect of
strengthening the body and delaying aging.

Second, albumin is not a nutritional supplement
.
People who cannot eat a normal diet need nutritional supplements, but albumin is not suitable as a nutritional supplement
.
Because the human body can only use amino acids, fats, and sugars, and the degradation of albumin to amino acids is extremely slow
.
For people who need nutritional supplements, it is more appropriate
to use drugs such as complex amino acids, fatty milk, and glucose.

Third, there is no lack of albumin and no need to make up
.
The normal concentration range of albumin is 35g/L-50g/L, and it is recommended to measure the level of serum albumin before medication, and if it is not significantly lower than this value, it is not recommended to transfuse albumin
.

Finally, we should remind everyone that albumin may cause adverse reactions such as allergies, and if anaphylactic shock occurs, it is life-threatening
.
If the speed of infusion is too fast, there is no indication for medication, and there is renal insufficiency, etc.
, it may aggravate the patient's hypertension, edema and other symptoms
.

All in all, the main role of albumin is to maintain the osmotic pressure of colloids in blood vessels and regulate the water balance
between blood and tissues.
The reason why patients with different diseases may use albumin is mainly because in the terminal stage of these diseases, liver failure may occur, resulting in a decrease in albumin production, so that the osmotic pressure of plasma colloids is reduced, and doctors need to infuse patients with albumin to correct, but it does not mean that albumin "cures all diseases"
.
(Editor Li Chuang)