Viagra finds another use, for lung disease

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Viagra finds another use, for lung disease

Last Updated: 2004-04-07 13:09:52 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Viagra can do more than help with erections.

The drug is basically a blood-vessel dilator, and this has proven

beneficial to people with pulmonary hypertension -- a condition in which

pressure buildup in the lungs' circulation can ultimately cause the

heart to fail.

Viagra significantly improved exercise capacity, the pumping strength of

the heart, and quality of life for patients with pulmonary hypertension,

according to the results of the first strictly scientific study to

examine the drug's effect on the condition.

Previous reports of Viagra's benefits for such patients came from

clinical observations and small uncontrolled studies.

Viagra is a " very effective medication " for people with pulmonary

hypertension, Dr. B. K. S. Sastry who led the study told Reuters Health.

" It relieves their symptoms ... and, compared to previously available

medications, it is a simple medication without many side effects. "

Dr. Sastry and colleagues from the CARE Hospital in Hyderabad, India,

randomly assigned 22 patients with pulmonary hypertension to either

Viagra at various doses three times daily depending on body weight, or

to treatment with an inactive placebo. After six weeks, patients crossed

over to the other treatment for the next six weeks.

During Viagra treatment, treadmill exercise time increased by 44 percent

over the level achieved on placebo, the team reports in the Journal of

the American College of Cardiology. With Viagra, output from the heart

also improved significantly.

These benefits were accompanied by significant improvements in the

breathless and fatigue components of a quality-of-life questionnaire.

In a statement, Dr. J. Rubin, who was not connected with the

study, said, " it's an encouraging, but still preliminary study. " While

the crossover design " adds to the strength " of the observations, it was

a small study of short duration, he points out.

Dr. Rubin, from the University of California, San Diego School of

Medicine, said results of an international, placebo-controlled trial

involving several hundred patients due out in a few months should be

more definitive.

The study was supported by the CARE Foundation, a not-for-profit

organization that promotes clinical research.

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, April 7, 2004

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