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1950s drug is future heart treatment

Research

Oxford University researchers have found a promising future treatment for heart disease, going back to a drug first developed in 1950.

© Sergey Nivens - Shutterstock

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was created to combat malaria, and was later found to be useful in the treatment of Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Now, a team at Oxford University's Departments of Pharmacology and of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics has found that the drug can also reduce heart rate. Their report, to be published in journal Heart Rhythm, says that the treatment could benefit people with heart failure.

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