Viagra saves life of a toddler

Viagra is a male impotence drug and for that reason, it may sound strange that a toddler takes it. Nevertheless, it is true and doctors give Viagra to Jessica Findlay, a girl struck down by a serious illness that can claim her life any second.

Jessica’s condition

Jessica suffers from a condition due to which the arteries in her heart and lungs become narrow. Her mother is on a knife’s edge whenever she is away from her daughter, she cannot even sleep at night, frightened that something might happen to her girl. Jessica collapsed at ‘Incredibly difficult to treat’ home when she was 18 months old and was diagnosed with severe multiple bilateral pulmonary stenosis. The arteries in both the sides of her heart and lungs are narrowing, making it hard for blood to pump around her body, and leaving her at risk of organ failure. Besides Jessica, one more child in the UK is known to suffer from this condition, which constricts the flow of blood in the organs and starves the body of oxygenated blood.

Normally, doctors treat children who only have the problem on one side of their heart. However, Jessica’s condition is more severe and she is left out of breath and is weak from slightest exertion. She has undergone six operations at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill, Glasgow, to insert balloons and stents into her arteries to prevent them from closing but, so far, the efforts have failed.

What keeps her going?

Perplexed by Jessica’s condition, doctors searched for a treatment that would keep blood pumping around her body. They finally reached a decision that Viagra, the controversial drug commonly used to treat male impotence, was an answer to Jessica’s problem. Sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, boosts the blood circulation around her body and helps ease the strain on her heart. She is among the first children in Scotland to take Viagra to combat artery condition. She now takes it eight times every day. It seems that Viagra is indeed a lifesaving drug.

Brief description

Strange but true – Viagra, a male impotence drug that is only prescribed to men is taken eight times a day by a four year girl to stay alive.