Sildenafil, better known by its brand name Viagra, is a boon for people struggling with erectile dysfunction. Surprisingly, it was initially designed as a heart drug but was later developed to treat erectile dysfunction. Sildenafil results in more blood flow to organs — whether that organ is the penis or the lungs.
A new study has found that Viagra or sildenafil, FDA-approved therapy for erectile dysfunction, can help treat lung diseases such as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) or idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
IPF is a fatal lung disease where the additional presence of PAH reduces survival. People living with PAH and IPF experience progressive shortness of breath and chronic cough. Not only this, PAH and IPF can affect many other organ systems.
While PAH is a rare disease, IPF is a more common lung disease. But both PAH and IPF are considered to be incurable so re-purposing drugs like sildenafil has several advantages in comparison with traditional approaches to drug discovery. In addition to a lower cost of clinical trials and a shorter development time, the side-effect profile is well known since Viagra is widely used.
While sildenafil is good for your sex life, it may not be the magic pill for all lung diseases. But one must agree that it has promising uses that go beyond erectile dysfunction.
