Drug in question was used by Soviet troops in 1980s

The drug at the center of Maria Sharapova’s doping case, regularly given to Soviet troops in the 1980s to boost their stamina while fighting in Afghanistan, is normally prescribed for medical use for periods of four to six weeks.

Sharapova faces possible sanctions after testing positive for meldonium, a drug the Russian tennis star said she said she had been using for 10 years for various medical issues.

The Latvian company that manufactures meldonium said the normal course of treatment is much shorter. COURSE OF ACTION “Depending on the patient’s health condition, treatment course of meldonium preparations may vary from four to six weeks,” Grindeks said in an emailed statement Tuesday to The Associated Press. “Treatment course can be repeated twice or thrice a year. Only physicians can follow and evaluate patient’s health condition and state whether the patient should use meldonium for a longer period of time.”

Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, said Monday she failed a doping test at the Australian Open in January for meldonium, which became a banned substance under the World Anti-Doping Agency code this year. Meldonium is a heart medicine which improves blood flow and is little-known in the US, but it was once common in the Soviet military.

The drug’s inventor, Ivars Kalvins, told Latvian newspaper Diena in a 2009 interview that meldonium was given to soldiers dur- ing the 1980s, when Soviet forces were fighting in Afghanistan.

“High altitudes. Oxygen deprivation. If they have to run 20 kilometers with all the gear, at the end they would get ischemia (a blood circulation condition),” Kalvins was quoted as saying.

“They were all given meldonium. They themselves were not aware they were using it. No one was being asked (if they agree to it) back then.”

Kalvins said meldonium was “not doping,” adding that it “allows you to withstand more physical pressure, but the body still spends its spare reserves.”

Sharapova said Monday she had taken meldonium for a decade following various health problems including regular sicknesses, early signs of diabetes and “irregular” results from echocardiography exams.

Meldonium was banned because it aids oxygen uptake and endurance, and several athletes in various international sports have already been caught using it since it was banned on January 1.