SSC Stenographer 2026 – 12 September 2026 Shift 2 · First aid, ORS and everyday remedies
Q1. Why do we feel refreshed after drinking ORS during dehydration?
- (a) It supplies calories
- (b) It stimulates nerves
- (c) It restores electrolytes and water
- (d) It increases oxygen flow
Answer & solution
Answer: (c) It restores electrolytes and water
Answer: Option 3 — It restores electrolytes and water
Dehydration is the loss of water and salts (sodium, potassium, chloride) from the body, usually through diarrhoea, vomiting or heavy sweating.
ORS replaces exactly these; the small amount of glucose in it is there to pull sodium and water into the blood, not to feed the body.
Revision note — Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS)
• ORS works on sodium–glucose co-transport: the SGLT1 carrier in the small intestine absorbs sodium only along with glucose, and water follows the sodium by osmosis.
• This is why plain water, or salt water without sugar, is absorbed far less well.
• WHO and UNICEF low-osmolarity ORS (2002), per litre of clean water: sodium chloride 2.6 g, glucose 13.5 g, potassium chloride 1.5 g, trisodium citrate 2.9 g; total osmolarity 245 mOsm/L.
• Home substitute: six level teaspoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt in one litre of clean water.
• In childhood diarrhoea ORS is given with zinc — 20 mg a day for 14 days (10 mg for infants under six months) — which shortens the episode.
• Oral rehydration therapy was proven in the 1971 refugee camps of the Bangladesh war by Dr Dilip Mahalanabis of the cholera laboratory at Dhaka (now icddr,b).
• He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 2023.
• The Lancet called ORT "potentially the most important medical advance of the 20th century"; India observes ORS Day on 29 July.
Do not mix these up
• ORS vs glucose drink — a sweet drink gives calories but very little sodium; ORS is balanced so that glucose only helps sodium and water get absorbed.
• Dehydration vs malnutrition — dehydration is loss of water and electrolytes over hours; malnutrition is a long-term shortage of nutrients.
Dehydration is the loss of water and salts (sodium, potassium, chloride) from the body, usually through diarrhoea, vomiting or heavy sweating.
ORS replaces exactly these; the small amount of glucose in it is there to pull sodium and water into the blood, not to feed the body.
Revision note — Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS)
• ORS works on sodium–glucose co-transport: the SGLT1 carrier in the small intestine absorbs sodium only along with glucose, and water follows the sodium by osmosis.
• This is why plain water, or salt water without sugar, is absorbed far less well.
• WHO and UNICEF low-osmolarity ORS (2002), per litre of clean water: sodium chloride 2.6 g, glucose 13.5 g, potassium chloride 1.5 g, trisodium citrate 2.9 g; total osmolarity 245 mOsm/L.
• Home substitute: six level teaspoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt in one litre of clean water.
• In childhood diarrhoea ORS is given with zinc — 20 mg a day for 14 days (10 mg for infants under six months) — which shortens the episode.
• Oral rehydration therapy was proven in the 1971 refugee camps of the Bangladesh war by Dr Dilip Mahalanabis of the cholera laboratory at Dhaka (now icddr,b).
• He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 2023.
• The Lancet called ORT "potentially the most important medical advance of the 20th century"; India observes ORS Day on 29 July.
Do not mix these up
• ORS vs glucose drink — a sweet drink gives calories but very little sodium; ORS is balanced so that glucose only helps sodium and water get absorbed.
• Dehydration vs malnutrition — dehydration is loss of water and electrolytes over hours; malnutrition is a long-term shortage of nutrients.