Viagra said to help sick children breathe breath

[question everything]

Viagra said to help sick children breathe breath

June 14, 2005

DALLAS – Children suffering from a rare and fatal lung disease were able to walk farther and breathe easier after taking the impotence pill Viagra, a small study suggests.

Researchers say use of the drug to treat these very sick children, suffering from pulmonary hypertension, needs more study. But they called these early results promising.

The study, published yesterday online in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, was funded by Pfizer, the maker of Viagra.

Dr. Ian Adatia, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco Children's Hospital, said one benefit of Viagra is it has fewer side effects than other treatments, and turning to Viagra isn't "that far of a leap." The drug works by relaxing the smooth muscle of blood vessels, increasing blood flow.

Associated Press


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050614/news_1n14nation.html

[still_one]

1. it helps old ones breathe too, but I just can't see it

[gratuitous]

7. You'd think it would help elephants breathe easier

Hee, hee.

But it's a good thing it's Viagra and not birth control pills that help sick kids breathe easier, because then some pinheaded pharmacist would refuse to fill the prescription.

[havocmom]

2. Will be interesting to see if Insurance companies, HMOs and Medicare

will pay for Viagra used for this purpose. When a drug is used for a condition it was not FDA approved for, insurance companies sometimes refuse to pay for it, under the exclusion of 'experimental treatment' fine print.

They'll pay to help men get erections, let's see if they will pay to help kids breathe.

[bmbmd]

4. Texas Medicaid

pays for Viagra for pulmonary hypertension.

[havocmom]

5. That is very good to hear

Thanks. Let's hope everybody will see the benefit and not deny paying for it for this condition.

[Megahurtz]

3. Weird. n/t

[daleo]

6. Viagra was originally meant for non-sexual conditions

Due to its effect on blood vessels. The sexual dysfunction result was just a "happy side effect" discovered while testing the drug for other reasons.

[formercia]

8. Just what a paedophile needs

Uh, sir, I was just trying to help him breath, sir.