Gerovital

Gerovital

Gerovital H3 (or procaine hydrochloride and products known as GH3 and other variants which may or may not be identical to Gerovital H3) is a controversial preparation developed during the 1950s and promoted by its advocates as an effective anti-aging treatment. During Gerovital's "jet-set" heyday, Gerovital treatments were reportedly administered to John F. Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, Kirk Douglas and Salvador Dalí. In the United States, the FDA bans Gerovital H3 from interstate commerce as an unapproved drug and, since 1982, has prohibited its importation.

As with many scientific discoveries, the claimed regenerative potential of the anesthetic procaine, a primary ingredient, came to light by accident. Over the years, physicians using it reported unusual and unexpected effects in patients. Arthritis sometimes would improve, hair would re-grow or recolor, and skin quality often would improve. These reports came for the most part from surgeons, who were not particularly interested in gerontology.

Ana Aslan, MD was a Doctor of the National Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Romania. She was the first to seriously investigate the possibilities of procaine as a tool in the fight against aging. Dr Aslan recognised that procaine in a sense "attacks" the body's cells by numbing them. The body counterattacks with the enzyme cholinesterase. Cholinesterase hydrolyses the procaine in about one hour (66`±14`). Dr Aslan speculated that the compound could be stabilised so that it would not numb the cells. The body would not then reject it and the regenerative effects would be extended.

This notion launched her on a research mission lasting two years. In 1951 she had perfected a procaine product called Gerovital H3 (often called G.H.3 for short). It contained antioxidants and stabilising agents.

Claims coming out of the Institute's clinics for the next few years were viewed by some as outlandish. Patients treated with GH3 showed improvements in circulatory function, skin elasticity, ulcers, Parkinsonism, arthritis, hair loss, senility, memory, muscular power, lung capacity and depression. According to the reports, practically all ageing phenomena diminished in severity with GH3.