Sildenafil Treats Pulmonary Hypertension

Written by JDPGlobal | Tuesday, 31 January 2006

Life is beautiful and full of weird experiences. Need proof? Meet Alexis Rodriguez. She is six years old and weighs 31 pounds. Gleaming with baby teeth and brown eyes and full of energy because she takes a drug that is meant to help men with erectile dysfunction.

Her mother Cheri Hoffman says this is a miracle. Alexis has taken the liquid form of sildenafil for treating pulmonary hypertension , which is a lung disease caused by a heart defect. Sildenafil is the important ingredient in Viagra, which treats erectile dysfunction.

There was little hope that Alexis would survive her condition. Doctors always told her that she would live but not for a long time. Her godmother exclaimed that doctors had given her two years to live two years ago. However, she has always outlived their expectations.

In November, two years ago, pressure had build up near the heart and she was going to have to undergo a lung transplant. It would have given Alexis only a few years extra. Then her parents came across a doctor who recommended they try Viagra for such symptoms.

Experts believe that there is hope in the theory that Viagra is an effective ingredient for treating secondary pulmonary hypertension. The treatment is very promising. Viagra also helps in reducing the pressure in the blood flow, which is also due to secondary pulmonary hypertension.

Hoffman said that the drug is proving effective for Alexis. Since the time she had started taking the drug, she is full of energy. She would often find it difficult to walk to her school which was in their backyard. Her mother said that now she is actually running to school.

Now Alexis is loving life and going to the movies with the other kids. Cheri Hoffman exclaims that she wants her kid to to compete with her peers and that she hopes that the drug has a lasting effect on her condition. The boost of energy is a positive sign and her parents expect her condition to improve.