Viagra is now a cure for serious lung disease
Published: November 21, 2005
Treatment with Viagra (sildenafil) can improve exercise capacity and functional ability in patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), a serious disease involving high pressure in the blood vessels that enter the lungs, new research suggests.
The findings, which appear in The New England Journal of Medicine, are based on a study of 278 patients who were randomly selected to receive Viagra, at one of three doses, or inactive “placebo” three times daily for 12 weeks. [The Viagra Myth]
The main endpoint was the distance walked in 6 minutes. According to the report, the study did not have enough patients to assess the effect of Viagra on the risk of death.
At all of the doses tested, Viagra significantly improved the 6-minute walking distance when compared with placebo, lead author Dr Nazzareno Galie, from the University of Bologna in Italy, and colleagues note.
For the 222 patients who used Viagra for 1 year, the improvement in distance was 51 meters.
Sildenafil acts by relaxing the smooth muscle of blood vessels, causing them to expand so blood flows more freely.
Other drugs used to treat pulmonary hypertension act through nitric oxide, which widens blood vessels. [The Official Patient’s Sourcebook on Primary Pulmonary Hypertension]
Sildenafil acts in a different way, by altering the activity of an enzyme called phosphodiesterase.
In addition, all of the Viagra doses were associated with a significant drop in lung blood pressure and with an improvement in functional ability.
Consistent with previous reports, side effects, such as flushing and diarrhoea, were more common with Viagra than with placebo, the findings indicate.
“This study demonstrates the efficacy and safety of sildenafil in the treatment of patients with symptomatic pulmonary artery hypertension,” the researchers conclude.
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