1934

Mary Walker (London) discovers physostigmin (then prostigmine), the antidote to curare poisoning, was effective in treating myasthenia gravis (Keynes, 319-20). In 1936, Blalock (Baltimore) performed first successful surgical removal of a thymic tumor for myasthenia (321). In myasthenics, partial nerve block results from a substance in the circulation that interferes with production or action of acetylcholine, an effect countered by prostigmine, acting as an anticholinesterase factor (324).