Hemendra Nath Chatterjee

Hemendra Nath Chatterjee was an Indian scientist from West Bengal who is known for the earliest publication of a formula for oral rehydration saline, used in the management of diarrhea, in 1952. His results appeared in The Lancet, but Western scientists gave them little recognition until later, and some writers argue this was partly for cultural reasons because his treatment included traditional medicine, and partly because the science behind oral rehydration was not yet well understood. In his 1953 study he gave dilute salt and glucose solutions by mouth and rectally to a small number of pre-selected, mildly ill cholera patients, and he did not measure intake and output. The record is honest about the limits of that early work while crediting him as an early figure in oral rehydration therapy.