--- title: Maria Sharapova: Here’s What to Know About Meldonium description: Maria Sharapova on Monday announced that she has failed a drug test at the Australian Open and tested positive for Meldonium canonical: https://time.com/4250055/maria-sharapova-meldonium-drug-2/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-07T20:47:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:19:47.603Z article:section: Health og:title: Here’s What to Know About Meldonium og:description: Tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive for the drug og:url: https://time.com/4250055/maria-sharapova-meldonium-drug-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08cbe2d59b39a74f/6988808c428a9e043bcd1af5/maria-sharapova-drug.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: maria-sharapova-drug og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here’s What to Know About Meldonium twitter:description: Tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive for the drug twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08cbe2d59b39a74f/6988808c428a9e043bcd1af5/maria-sharapova-drug.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here’s What to Know About Meldonium  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 7, 2016 8:47 PM UTC  Tennis player Maria Sharapova addresses the media at The LA Hotel Downtown on March 7, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Sharapova, a five-time major champion, is currently the 7th ranked player on the WTA tour. Sharapova, withdrew from this week’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells due to injury. Tennis player Maria Sharapova addresses the media at The LA Hotel Downtown on March 7, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Sharapova, a five-time major champion, is currently the 7th ranked player on the WTA tour. Sharapova, withdrew from this week’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells due to injury.Kevork Djansezian—2016 Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 7, 2016 8:47 PM UTC Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova on Monday [announced that she has failed a drug test](http://time.com/4250083/maria-sharapova-meldonium-drug/) at the Australian Open because she tested positive for meldonium, a little-known drug that was [banned on Jan. 1](http://www.itftennis.com/media/220474/220474.pdf). The drug is used in Latvia and other eastern European countries to treat serious heart problems and aid the circulation of oxygen, [the BBC reported last month](http://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/35508045), when Russian professional bicyclist Eduard Vorganov tested positive for the same drug. Meldonium, also known as mildronate, was developed at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis to help prevent ischemia, which is a vascular disease that can lead to tissue death, [according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16007237). It is also used to treat brain circulation disorders. The drug improves the users’ mood and allows them to become more active, the National Library of Medicine said. “They become more active, their motor dysfunction decreases, and asthenia, dizziness and nausea become less pronounced,” it said. Sharapova said she has been taking meldonium for 10 years for health issues. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4250055/maria-sharapova-meldonium-drug-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4250055/maria-sharapova-meldonium-drug-2/"},"headline":"Here’s What to Know About Meldonium","datePublished":"2016-03-07T20:47:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:19:47.603Z","description":"The drug is used to treat serious heart problems","url":"https://time.com/4250055/maria-sharapova-meldonium-drug-2/","keywords":["Drugs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08cbe2d59b39a74f/6988808c428a9e043bcd1af5/maria-sharapova-drug.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08cbe2d59b39a74f/6988808c428a9e043bcd1af5/maria-sharapova-drug.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"maria-sharapova-drug","caption":"Tennis player Maria Sharapova addresses the media at The LA Hotel Downtown on March 7, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Sharapova, a five-time major champion, is currently the 7th ranked player on the WTA tour. Sharapova, withdrew from this weeks BNP Pa","creditText":"Kevork Djansezian—2016 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4250055/maria-sharapova-meldonium-drug-2/","name":"Here’s What to Know About Meldonium"}}]}] ```