Oral rehydration salts

Research records

Historical source snapshot. Not freshly verified, not a recommendation. Study findings, community accounts and app defaults are not interchangeable.

Publication suitability · 2026-10-15: Historical reference only; not a clinical verification. Clinical, regulatory, efficacy, safety and dose claims are not independently established by this review.

Oral rehydration salts

Electrolyte replacement for illness, heat or heavy sweating.

Evidence category: Reference only. This describes the source category, not approval or certainty.

Regulatory statement in source: Not separately recorded; do not infer approval from the evidence category.

The World Health Organization publishes a monograph for making oral rehydration salts, including the newer lower-osmolarity formula. A review of acute gastroenteritis says WHO recommends oral rehydration salts as the first choice, because they replace fluid and salts, but they do not reduce stool volume, stool frequency or how long diarrhoea lasts. That review also describes proposed changes such as rice-based versions, zinc and probiotics. These are guidance and review sources rather than trial reports.

Benefits reported in the imported source

• The WHO publishes a monograph for oral rehydration salts, including a lower-osmolarity formula.
• WHO recommends them as first choice in acute gastroenteritis, to replace fluid and salts.

Risks and limits

• They do not reduce stool volume, stool frequency or how long diarrhoea lasts.
• The sources here are guidance and a review, not trial reports.
• Rice-based versions, zinc and probiotics are proposals, not settled practice.

Source bottom line: Oral rehydration salts are WHO's first choice for replacing fluid and salts lost in diarrhoea.

Uncertainty: Reference information only. Not medical advice.

Study protocols — reports, not instructions

No study protocol recorded in this snapshot. This does not establish that no study exists.

Community and practice descriptions

Accounts of a practice are not evidence of safety or effectiveness. Words such as “standard”, “safe” or “recommended” describe the source account, not verified consensus or this wiki’s advice. Commercial and self-published citations are retained for traceability, not vendor endorsement or independent clinical corroboration.

Pharmacokinetic context

No half-life recorded in this source snapshot. No value has been inferred.

Source references

• Oral rehydration salts - WHO
• Acute gastroenteritis—changes to the recommended original oral rehydrating salts: a review
• WHO: oral rehydration salts