Oral rehydration therapy

Cholera kills by dehydration, and until 1968 the only remedy was an intravenous drip — useless in a village with no clinic. Working in Dhaka and Calcutta, David Nalin, Richard Cash, Norbert Hirschhorn and David Sachar showed that a precise mix of glucose and salt in water is absorbed by the gut even while it is pouring out fluid, because glucose drags sodium across the intestinal wall with it. The treatment costs a few cents, needs no needle and no doctor, and a mother can give it. The Lancet called it potentially the most important medical advance of the twentieth century; it has saved tens of millions of children.

Part of “The Gifts of the Jews” — verified Jewish contributions to the world, with sources.