Gerovital
Gerovital H3 (or procaine hydrochloride and products known as GH3, Aslavital, Vitacel, 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 a stellar array of celebrities and dignitaries,  including John F. Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, Kirk Douglas and Salvador Dali. Today, the mainstream medical view is that the preparation was seriously investigated in the 1960s and discredited, and that any promotion today is quackery. In the United States, the FDA bans Gerovital H3 from interstate commerce as an unapproved drug and, since 1982, has prohibited its importation.

# Development and marketing
It was developed in Romania by Dr. Ana Aslan (January 1, 1897  May 20, 1988). The main active ingredient is the well-known local anesthetic Procaine hydrochloride, (often referred to by the old brand name, Novocaine). It also contains small amounts of benzoic acid, potassium metabisulfite and disodium phosphate which are said to be important in the formulation, rendering it more effective by "stabilizing" it. Some advocates acknowledge that despite the stabilizers, the procaine in Gerovital H3 breaks down rapidly into DMAE and PABA, but ascribe the beneficial effects to these breakdown products.
From the 1950s until her death in 1988, Dr. Aslan promoted Gerovital H3 with great success. In the 1960s and 1970s her Romanian clinic, the Parhon Institute, became a mecca for celebrities seeking treatment, and an upscale tourist attraction. The New York Times referred to Gerovital's "jet-set aura," noting that Dr. Aslan had been covered in "society columns where such public figures as Nikita S. Khrushchev, Konrad Adenauer, and Ibn Saud have been listed among the multitudes said to have taken the drug." As late as 1988 an advertisement by the Romanian National Tourist Office lauded "the picturesque and exciting cities, scenic delights, famous resorts (including Gerovital H3 treatment centers), cultural and historic treasures that await the traveler to Romania." 

# Denouncement
A 1973 New York Times article said "cold water was thrown on 's reputation years ago" by "three reports published simultaneously in British Medical Journal  found no merit for procaine hydrochloride for any of the problems of aging."
A flurry of clinical trials in the mid-to-late 1970s suggests that Gerovital H3 acts as a weak, competitive, reversible MAO inhibitor, and so may have some antidepressant value, but otherwise has negligible effect on disease (see Clinical Trials, below).
In 1994, the U.S. FDA Consumer magazine said: "No health claims for Gerovital have been substantiated, and FDA considers it an unapproved new drug. It has caused low blood pressure, respiratory difficulties, and convulsions in some users." Suppliers assert that the product is safe, and one cites a brief quotation from a newspaper article that says "while as early as 1973 Elmer Gardner of the FDA's Bureau of Drugs stated 'There is no safety problem with Gerovital H-3.'"

# Clinical Trials

## Anti-aging Efficacy
- Zdichynec B.  ZFA. 1977;32(3):267-9. German. PMID 337694. 

## Lack of Efficacy
- Zwerling I, Plutchik R, Hotz M, Kling R, Rubin L, Grossman J, Siegel B.  Effects of a procaine preparation (Gerovital H3) in hospitalized geriatric patients: a double-blind study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1975 Aug;23(8):355-9. PMID 1097490. 
- Olsen EJ, Bank L, Jarvik LF. Gerovital-H3: a clinical trial as an antidepressant. J Gerontol. 1978 Jul;33(4):514-20. PMID 376578. 
- Ostfeld A, Smith CM, Stotsky BA. The systemic use of procaine in the treatment of the elderly: a review. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1977 Jan;25(1):1-19. PMID 12204. 
- Rissanen V, Rissanen P, Tuomisto J. Procaine (Gerovital): no effect on the rehabilitation result in patients with back or hip disease. Ann Med. 1990 Jun;22(3):151-6. PMID 2203382. 

## Cognitive Effects
- Cruceanu A, Bucsa L. Age differences in the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity of homogenates from the liver of rats. The effect of Gerovital H3 on the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. Physiologie. 1979 Jan-Mar;16(1):71-5. PMID 106418. 
- MacFarlane MD. Procaine HCl (Gerovital H3): a weak, reversible, fully competitive inhibitor of monoamine oxidase. Fed Proc. 1975 Jan;34(1):108-10. PMID 1109354. 
- Bhaskaran D, Radha E. Murine regional brain monoamine oxidase activity: time- and age-dependent response to inhibitors. Gerontology. 1984;30(2):87-93. PMID 6706127. 
- Pop M, Tarba C. Changes induced in the bioelectric activity of rat subcortical nervous structures by Gerovital H3 and Aslavital as compared to procaine. Physiologie. 1988 Jul-Sep;25(3):137-49. PMID 3144011. 

## Risks
- Forstrom L, Hannuksela M, Idanpaan-Heikkila J, Salo OP. Hypersensitivity reactions to Gerovital. Dermatologica. 1977;154(6):367-9. PMID 142033. 
- Somsen GA, Schut NH. Acute renal failure due to self-medication. Neth J Med. 1998 Jul;53(1):45-6. PMID 9718943. 
- Search Medline for more articles on Gerovital.

# Drug or nutrient?
Procaine itself is universally considered to be a drug. Earlier references by advocates of Gerovital H3 always refer to it as a drug. Hoffer and Walker (1980) call it a "youth drug." Mircea Dumitru, Dr. Aslan's colleague and personal physician, describes it as "a complex drug acting like the procaine molecule ... The addition of benzoic acid, potassium and disodium phosphate increase the effects of Gerovital-H3 biotrophic treatment." Web-based suppliers outside the United States that offer to ship the preparation to the U.S. generally characterize it as a "nutrient" or "vitamin," perhaps because of less strict legal treatment of nutritional supplements in the U. S. under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. Some sites selling the preparation say that a federal court in decision June 17, 1994, US vs Rodger Sless/TMI classified GeroVital H3 as a dietary supplement.

# Quality control
It is notable that virtually every company claiming to supply Gerovital H3 to the U. S. warns of widespread distribution of fake formulations. Each company suggests that products supplied by its competitors are phony (while asserting that they and only they are the only supplier of the real Romanian formula).
- One company says it sells "real" Gerovital H3 and warns that "the American market is flooded with fake GH3."
- Another says it has "the ONLY ORIGINAL FORMULA BEING IMPORTED TO USA."
- A third says "Beware of the many phony GH3's... we are the only company willing and able to supply documented proof of our GH3's authenticity."
One Gerovital advocate states that the only way for a U. S. consumer to get authentic Gerovital H3 is to have a compounding pharmacy in the U. S. prepare it from a doctor's prescription. He adds, "don't bother with a conventional doctor  will have the usual American medical establishment brain wash attitude."

# FDA Ban
As of 2004, the FDA's 1982 automatic detention alert is still in effect and bans the import of Gerovital H3 into the U.S. as "a new drug within the meaning of 201(p), without an approved new drug application ."
The ban covers:
- Gerovital, GH3, KH3, Zell H3, GH3, GH3 Cream, etc.
- finished injectable or oral Procaine Hydrochloride
- bulk Procaine Hydrochloride

# 2003 UK Trademark revocation
In the UK the term "Gerovital H3" was formerly considered to be a trademark of Prof Dr. A. Aslan, registered to Gerovital Cosmetics SA, but the trademark was challenged in 2003 by Societatea Comerciala Farmec SA and subsequently revoked.