Walker, Mary Broadfoot

Scottish physician Mary Broadfoot Walker (1888–1974) first demonstrated the effectiveness of physostigmine in the treatment of myasthenia gravis and in so doing established the first effective treatment for this disease. She also was the first to recognize the association between familial periodic paralysis and hypokalemia. In addition, she described the glucose challenge test used in diagnosing hypokalemic periodic paralysis and the use of intravenous potassium in its treatment. Her important results were all obtained while working in Poor Law hospitals, outside an academic environment. She repeatedly demonstrated the results of her investigations at various meetings until even die-hard doubters and detractors were converted to believers and supporters.