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Did you know that Viagra was originally developed to treat high blood pressure? Its pleasant side effect was discovered during drug trials in 1992 and an industry was born. But while Viagra may have found its place in the medicine cabinets of impotent men around the world, the drug sometimes has other applications.
Like for Calvin Muteesa, a 2-year-old British boy. He was born with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare condition that causes blood pressure to rise to dangerous levels. It makes breathing difficult and the heart must work extra hard to pump blood to the lungs.
Other than a heart-lung transplant, there is no cure for Calvin's condition. But for the past 30 months, Calvin has been taking up to six doses of liquid Viagra a day to relax his pulmonary artery, allowing more blood and oxygen to flow through. He must still wear an oxygen tube, but the drug makes breathing much less stressful on his little body.
Calvin's mother, Maureen, admits that she thought it was rather odd when a doctor first prescribed Viagra for her baby. "When I first saw the packet I didn't know what to think. I asked the nurse, 'Why on earth are you giving my son that, it's for something completely different. But you could see the difference as soon as he started taking it. It was amazing."
Since Viagra only triggers an erection if there is a desire for sex (did not know that), it has a different effect when taken by young boys. In this case, it is making life just a little easier for a very sick little boy. Viva Viagra!
Like for Calvin Muteesa, a 2-year-old British boy. He was born with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare condition that causes blood pressure to rise to dangerous levels. It makes breathing difficult and the heart must work extra hard to pump blood to the lungs.
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Other than a heart-lung transplant, there is no cure for Calvin's condition. But for the past 30 months, Calvin has been taking up to six doses of liquid Viagra a day to relax his pulmonary artery, allowing more blood and oxygen to flow through. He must still wear an oxygen tube, but the drug makes breathing much less stressful on his little body.
Calvin's mother, Maureen, admits that she thought it was rather odd when a doctor first prescribed Viagra for her baby. "When I first saw the packet I didn't know what to think. I asked the nurse, 'Why on earth are you giving my son that, it's for something completely different. But you could see the difference as soon as he started taking it. It was amazing."
Since Viagra only triggers an erection if there is a desire for sex (did not know that), it has a different effect when taken by young boys. In this case, it is making life just a little easier for a very sick little boy. Viva Viagra!
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
11-22-2008 @ 1:04PM
LS said...At LAST!!! A GOOD reason for insurance to cover it!
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 2:40PM
icebluee67 said...I'm still fed up with being subjected to the advertising surrounding Viagra.
People have other things to do and it's too dicy to explain to younger people who don't need to bashed with sexual issues !
Get some class advertisers ! AND DRUG COMPANIES
11-30-2008 @ 7:29PM
PedsRN said...Up until 4 years ago, I worked on a pediatric cardiology floor. One of the patients had pulmonary hypertension. Viagra was ordered. Fine when she was in the hospital, but when her mother went to get the outpatient prescription, insurance refused. They would pay for an IV drug that cost thoundands a day, needed refridgeration and tethered the child to a central line & IV pump. So thousands vs $10 day, the insurance company chose thousands...Never think of insurance companies as reasonable. Things may have changed, but I doubt it!
11-30-2008 @ 3:09PM
Vivi said...So? If this is a life saver for this little boy, what then happens when he reaches adulthood or even puberty? Will he have to walk around with an erection all the time?
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 4:48PM
EJ Galusha said...Vivi, please read again...
Since Viagra only triggers an erection if there is a desire for sex (did not know that), it has a different effect when taken by young boys. In this case, it is making life just a little easier for a very sick little boy. Viva Viagra!
12-01-2008 @ 8:22PM
ctbrow24 said...If you would would have read the article; then you would know that hopefully the boy will get a heart and lung transplant. The viagra treatments are just helpin ease the pain right now, and if he doesn't receive a transplant soon he will most likely die. So therefore he won't have walk around with erection when he gets older. What an ignorant statement.
11-30-2008 @ 3:10PM
BUTTON said...IT'S ABOUT TIME MEN STOP THINKING OF OTHERS INSTEAD OF THEIR OWN PENIS!!!
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 3:59PM
Ashley said...I wonder what would have happened if that side effect was never there. My world would be a lot better, I mean I wouldnt get stuck with mental images everytime that commercial came on. There wouldnt be any pregnant gold diggers, or any old people with stds. At first I thought, "oh this poor boy is going to have an erection all the time when he gets older" but if he's going to be taking it all the time then wouldnt it loose its effect after a while?
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 4:28PM
fred said...use aspirin.. better for you and not so many blood pressure problems
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 4:38PM
Geraldo said...Hey, don't laugh. I was in for a simple bypass and the docs found major pulmonary hypertension damage to my heart. Docs had given me up for dead, the family gathered and priest summoned. Then a close family friend, a pediatric cardiologist, suggested as a last resort a Viagra drip that they use on infants. Obviously it worked, but I don't think I had an erection for the 11 days I was in a coma. At least my wife said I didn't And trust me, my mind was not on sex during that experiment.
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 4:31PM
Bizzy said...Viagra is a vasodilator, and was originally intended for heart patients. Because it is a vasodilator, then when blood vessels in the male genitals expand in an arousing situation--but those vessels will need to have been dilating to begin with (as this article suggests).
Viagra is being tested in clinical trials to treat PPH (Primary pulmonary hypertension). A close friend of mine was on Viagra to help her blood pressure, and she was doing very well on it, much healthier.
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 4:58PM
kat said...A warning! Do not open the link that "PHIL" (comment #2) has posted here. He/She/It posts this virus laden crud on practically every venue AOL has. Report this person to AOL and to any other watchdog group that guards against these illegal hacker bums/virus spreaders. Check around the web and you will find that someone or some group has spread a lot of misery via trojan horse type viruses. Look for the same type of postings by "BRAD". Hopefully AOL will finally stop these types of posts if enough people report and complain.
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 5:14PM
kat said...Poster #2 "PHIL"; you should hang your head in shame. I know that you have nothing to offer humanity except your virus laden garbage. Why don't YOU open the link that you have provided? I know why. It is a trap to mess people's computers up. A trojan horse type virus. A warning to anyone reading this comment. Don't open the link. You WILL get a nasty virus. Check into this link on the spyware sites. Avoid postings like this by "PHIL" and "BRAD" and probably many other fake names. Please report this miscreant to AOL and any other watchdog groups. Hopefully AOL will stop allowing these daily postings by these"people" if enough people voice their displeasure.
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 5:24PM
Erin said...Very amazing, indeed! Not long ago I read that Viagra wasn't originally made for "adult" situations, but for the purposes of which you all speak!
Funny how these things twist and turn. ;]
Erin
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 5:58PM
martie said...I used to work in the medical field and heard of both boys and girls who's lives were saved by Viagra. Their families had to file appeals with their insurance companies to get the medication. One child was on it until her strength and health and body size were enough for a heart transplant. From then on she no longer needed the Viagra, just the anti rejection medications
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 5:58PM
robby said...My husband is a diabetic and one of the problems that occur due to this is ED. Viagra sure helped him through this difficult discovery. People need to realize that it has several uses and that it is not just for the sex crazed world out there!
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 6:00PM
sherry said...Sooo, if viagra only causes an erection if someone is thinking about sex, what were the scientists doing that allowed them to accidentally discover this effect? ... Or maybe a test patient or two got turned on looking at a scientist.
I always think about the thousands of elderly women who were just happy their lives had come to a point where they could sit peacefully on the front porch and watch a nice sunset with their old husbands then....HELLO!!!!
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 7:55PM
Andi said...LOL...it was a group of older men that were testing it out for heart conditions. I'm assuming that most of them had also had a few "issues" in the past and it's not hard to guess that those certain problems probably were also due to said heart conditions.
11-30-2008 @ 6:09PM
ding dong said...This story gave me an erection!
Reply
11-30-2008 @ 6:09PM
RyanG said...I don't know about anyone else, but frankly if something as simple as VIagra can help me and others reduce the chances of major medical cardiovascular issues cropping up or becoming worse, then I'm all for it.
This is just proof to me that the body works in mysterious ways, and that everything in the body is interconnected. One system does affect another and it doesn't matter if something is developed to solve one issue if it ends up solving or helping to reduce other issues in the body
Reply