Viagra could help premature babies lives
Little blue pill could be used for more than ED
Photo courtesy of Pfizer
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 01/07/2013
BALTIMORE - Viagra has been around since 1998, but the history of the drug started more than a decade before that for many different benefits, including helping premature babies.
One of the most promising uses for Viagra is in the treatment of high blood pressure in the blood vessels serving the lungs. This condition, known as pulmonary hypertension, can be deadly.
Premature babies born with this condition have been treated with Viagra. In premature babies, breathing difficulties are not uncommon. Viagra opens up blood vessels so that existing vessels can more easily take oxygenated blood throughout the body.
Pulmonary hypertension is found in adults too, and it makes the right side of the heart work harder than it should. Eventually the right side of the heart enlarges, and heart failure ensues. Viagra works in adults similarly to how it works in premature babies, allowing the blood vessels supplying the lungs to open more and provide more oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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