LOS ANGELES, March 15 U.S. scientists have discovered Viagra might be useful in treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable disease that scars the lungs.Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles found more than half of patients treated with Viagra, also known generically as sildenafil, improved their walking distance by at least 20 percent during a standard test to measure lung function.Over five million worldwide suffer from this devastating disease, so we are hopeful that this drug may prove an effective therapy for pulmonary fibrosis, said the study ' s principal investigator, Dr. David Zisman, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at UCLA ' s David Geffen School of Medicine. Many patients with pulmonary fibrosis also have pulmonary hypertension, which constricts arteries and lessens blood flow to the lungs, resulting in diminished lung capacity and breathing difficulties. Zisman said sildenafil might help breathing by opening or dilating blood vessels to allow more blood flow to the lungs.The research conducted by Zisman, Dr. Harold Collard of the University of California, Kevin Anstrom of Duke University, and Dr. Marvin Schwarz of the University of Colorado, is published in the March issue of the journal Chest.Copyright 2007 by UPI
