Viagra turns lifesaver for toddler

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The drug Viagra has turned lifesaver for a British toddler who is suffering from a rare condition known as pulmonary hypertension. Two-year-old Oliver Sherwood regularly takes four doses of Viagra a day to keep him alive. The rare condition causes chronic high blood pressure and something as simple a chest infection could kill him.

The drug improves blood flow, which in adults can boost erectile function, but in rare cases such as Oliver's can open the veins and capillaries to aid circulation. His mother Sarah, a part-time nurse, said, "Viagra is an expensive drug but it's actually one of the cheapest to treat pulmonary hypertension." "We're just hoping it'll continue to work as he grows a bit older," she added.

Pulmonary hypertension causes the blood pressure in the arteries in the lungs to rise, straining the heart and reducing blood oxygen levels, causing breathlessness and exhaustion. Symptoms include severe coughing and breathing problems as blood fills the lungs, constant nose bleeds, dizziness and chest pains. The condition often leads to heart failure. The survival rate is around five years, even with medication, such as Oliver takes one tablet of Sildenafil (Viagra) crushed into four 5 ml doses a day, the Daily Mail reported.

Doctors can increase the dose when his condition worsens, but there is no way of telling how much longer the drugs will be effective. As he grows up he will need to switch to more expensive treatments called Epoprostenol and Iloprost to control his condition.

A spokesman for NICE added, "Our review of the evidence suggests that Sildenafil is both clinically effective and cost-effective in treating pulmonary arterial hypertension." However, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association said, "The clinical evidence for this is unfounded."