Viagra and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

The erectile dysfunction medication, Viagra, has been proven to be effective in treating a rare condition in children called pulmonary arterial hypertension. The disease – pulmonary arterial hypertension, results in unnaturally high blood pressure in the arteries that lead to the lungs. This disease accompanies other forms of heart disease, can be inherited or can occur for no known reason. Children who are afflicted have limited ability to exercise and this can also lead to heart failure and death.

The active ingredient in Viagra was originally developed as a treatment for heart disease but has become more well known for its treatment of sexual issues in men. The drug has been approved for use in adults but is not cheap and must be taken regularly does bring some side effects with it. It was only recently that pediatricians began using the medicine to treat children with cardiac problems even though the method has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Medical research found that Viagra – with the active ingredient sildenafil – improves oxygen and blood delivery throughout the body but it hasn’t been shown yet whether it enhances a patients’ lifespan. As a test for the children, 105 were given either a low, medium or high dose or a placebo of the drug to see what reaction, if any, it had in their pulmonary arterial hypertension. As a result of the study, it was discovered that the young patients who took the drug were able to exercise following the study as they had an improvement in their lung function than those that were given the placebo drug during the trial.

The side effects in men can lead to vision problems and while the condition of priapism – a sustained erection – can occasionally occur in men it also afflicted the children the study who were given the active ingredient. A lower dose can eliminate the problem of priapism. The drug works to help move blood more easily throughout the system and allows men to achieve, and maintain erections.

Even if the drug does receive approval for use in children, it is costly to administer – several thousand dollars a year but for children who suffer this potentially fatal illness it may be a price their parents are willing to find a way to pay for the positive effects it appears to have had on those children who were in the study.