Viagra Improving Lives Of Lung Fibrosis Sufferers

may be possible to extend the life expectancy of sufferers

Everybody’s heard about how the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra can cure male impotence but few people know that it is being used by researchers as a possible treatment for men and women who suffer from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This condition which is a terminal lung disease which damages and destroys lung tissue tends to kill individuals between three and five years after they are diagnosed. The upside is that with the use of Viagra which improves blood supply to blood vessels it may be possible to extend the life expectancy of sufferers.

Dr. David A. Zisman, at the Sansum Clinic based in Santa Barbara, California who conducted the recent research looked at a group of 180 men and women suffering from advanced stages pulmonary fibrosis.  He divided them into two groups and gave them either 20mg of Viagra or a placebo tablet for a period of twelve weeks.

While there was only a little difference in the percentages of those who recorded a 20 percent or bigger improvement in the distance they were able to cover in six minutes many of the patients using the Viagra reported that they were able to breathe more easily and reported a significant improvement in their quality of life. It must be stressed that the Viagra would not in any way cure idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis but would just enable sufferers to experience its degenerative effects more slowly.

The study which was partly funded by the manufacturer of Viagra, namely Pfizer was published by the New England Journal of Medicine and will be discussed at the annual general meeting of the American Thoracic Society soon to be held in Denver. Viagra has also been shown in other research projects to improve the breathing ability of athletes at high altitudes and it has been rumoured that it will be given to the England football team when they play at high altitudes in South Africa for the World Cup.