Lucy Wills is an English scientist celebrated in today’s Google Doodle. Born in 1888 she went onto become a leading haematologist.
She revolutionised pregnancy care with her seminal work in the 1920s and 1930s.
She worked in India in the 20s and 30s and conducted ground-breaking research on macrocytic anaemia of pregnancy.
Her findings led to her discovery of a nutritional factor in yeast which both prevents and cures this disorder.
Lucy was born in The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham.
She received many awards for her scientific work was considered a pregnancy health pioneer by the time she died in 1964.
Wills studied at the London School of Medicine for Women.
After graduating in 1928, she decided not to become a physician but to move to India where she carried out much of her research into macrocytic anaemia.
Google has commemorated Wills today on the 131st anniversary of her birth.
What is macrocytic anaemia?
Macrocytic anaemia is characterised by enlarged red blood cells and is life-threatening.
Poor pregnant women in the tropics with poor diets are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
Lucy Wills identified a nutritional factor (known as the Wills factor) to the disease.
This nutritional factor Wills discovered was folate, the naturally occurring form of folic acid.
How did Lucy Wills find the cure?
While living in India Lucy Wills recognised a link between the dietary habits of different classes of Bombay women and the likelihood of them becoming anaemic during pregnancy.
She found that impoverished Muslim women, who had the poorest diets, were the most susceptible to anaemia.
Certain that a nutritional factor could be a cure to the disease, Wills conducted clinical trials on patients with the macrocytic anaemia in India.
She found that this type of anaemia could be both prevented and cured by yeast extracts, of which the cheapest source was Marmite.
The Lucy Wills Legacy
Lucy’s work on tropical megaloblastic anaemia has long been recognised by nutritionists and haematologists.
Every medical student has heard of its cure by her discovery of the Wills factor in yeast extract.
Her research paved the way for the subsequent work on folic acid.
Her discovery is a landmark in the history and treatment of the anaemias.