Stone to Silicon

Health & biology · 1968

Oral rehydration therapy

A simple drink of water, salt and sugar saves children dying of diarrhoea for pennies.

Trials in Dhaka and Kolkata around 1968 showed glucose lets the gut absorb salt and water even during cholera. ORS is credited with saving tens of millions of lives, mostly children.

See it in the living treeWikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Child mortality (under 5) Latest: 3.74 % (2024) Source: Our World in Data

Height of men and women by birth year Latest: Men: 171 cm (1996) Source: Our World in Data