Factbox: Five facts about meldonium

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) - A Russian curling medalist at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is suspected of having tested positive for the banned substance meldonium, a source at the Games said on Sunday. The following are five facts about the drug: * Meldonium has been in the spotlight since Russian tennisplayer and former world number one Maria Sharapova testedpositive for the drug in January 2016 and was later banned for15 months. Sharapova said she was unaware that the drug had beenadded to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA)banned substanceslist. * Meldonium is cheap and available over the counter inRussia and some eastern European countries, where it is marketedas Mildronate by the Latvian pharmaceutical firm Grindeks. It isnot licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in theUnited States. * It was developed to treat patients with heart conditionssuch as angina, chronic heart failure, cardiomyopathy and othercardiovascular disorders. The drug also helps to adjust thebody's use of energy and can boost stamina and endurance. * WADA placed the drug on its watch list in 2015 aftermounting evidence of its performance-enhancing benefit andwidespread use in various sports.It was banned on Jan. 1 2016but WADA later said doubts over how long meldonium stayed in thebody meant athletes who had tested positive for it before March1 could have their bans reduced or overturned.In Sharapova'scase, her initial two-year ban was reduced to 15 months afterthe Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said she "bore somedegree of fault". * Scientist Ivars Kalvins invented meldonium in the 1970swhen Latvia was still a Soviet republic. It was used to boostthe stamina of Soviet troops fighting at high altitudes inAfghanistan in the 1980s, Kalvins told a Latvian newspaper in2009. (Editing by Darren Schuettler and Clare Fallon)