Physiological saline is usually made up of water and sodium chloride.
Serum is a term that has multiple uses. In the field of medicine , serum is a solution made up of various compounds in the body; In this case, we speak of physiological saline .
The composition of this serum can vary, although it generally consists of water and sodium chloride. Doctors use physiological saline to inject certain substances into the body or to provide essential elements when there is a reduction in blood volume. Physiological saline, on the other hand, allows irrigation of cavities and tissues.
The blood serum
Another use of the serum concept is linked to blood serum . This is the part of the lymph or blood that maintains the liquid state after a coagulation process. In other words: when blood clots, the part of it that remains liquid and does not change its state is the serum.
Blood serum that has polyclonal type antibodies is known as immunological serum . This serum is used, through transfusions, for the treatment of different infections .
Milk component
When milk coagulates, on the other hand, there is also a component that remains liquid: this substance is called whey . When making cheese , the whey is obtained by separating it from the curd.
Whey is a cloudy fluid with a yellow to green tone. Depending on the mode of coagulation it can be sour, sweet or bitter. In all cases it has phosphorus, calcium, fat, proteins and lactose.
The component of milk that remains liquid when coagulation occurs is called whey.
truth serum
On the other hand, there is the well-known truth serum (also called truth drug ), a psychoactive drug that is used to obtain a forced confession from an individual who refuses to share certain data, either out of fear or fear. loyalty to a criminal group, for example. According to international law, using this serum is one of the officially recognized forms of torture, although this does not prevent it from being applied to psychotic patients in the field of psychiatry to evaluate them and carry out their treatments.
Among the chemicals that are part of the truth serum are temazepam, scopolamine and ethanol, among other hypnotics and sedatives capable of altering high-level cognitive functions, such as inhibition, the ability to solve problems, planning and impulse control; Also included are sodium amytal, sodium pentothal, and other barbiturates.
According to the majority tendency of scientists, the data obtained through the use of truth serum, which is applied intravenously, are not always completely accurate, since some subjects mix true events with creations of their imagination. . There are also specialists who assure that this drug does not increase the chances of a transparent confession , but simply stimulates the person to talk more.
Example of use of this drug
One of the most high-profile cases in which truth serum helped capture and sentence a criminal took place in India, with Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, a Pakistani militant and member of the Islamist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, through the who participated in the 2008 attacks in Bombay. The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation used intravenous barbiturates to interrogate Kasab, the only terrorist associated with the aforementioned attacks whom they managed to capture alive.
Regardless of the true effectiveness of the truth serum, this particular case was solved, and Kasab was convicted of dozens of charges , including murder, illegal possession of weapons, and promoting war against India. His sentence included the death penalty and life imprisonment.