A drug developed in 1950 to treat malaria sufferers has a new future combating heart disease following “a chance observation” by medical researchers, according to the University of Oxford.
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was created to combat malaria, though it was later found to be useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, a disease that can leave people crippled with fatigue, rashes and joint pain.
However, doctors treating a lupus patient noticed the drug reduced the heart rate significantly and began trials to investigate if it could be used to help people coping with heart failure, high blood pressure and angina.
Tests have now shown that it does.
