Ed.- In numerous issues of the IAS Anti-Aging Bulletin over the last 3-years, Dr. Dumitru has extolled the virtues of Gerovital-H3 ®, the original anti-aging drug developed by Professor Ana Aslan. As Dr. Dumitru was the right-hand man of Ana Aslan, the Director of the Bucharest Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics after her death and her personal physician in her final years, there can be no one better placed in the world to discuss her work.
In this summary, Dr. Dumitru outlines the benefits, side-effects, contraindications and administration of what is still one of the world’s most commonly used anti-aging supplements.
The story of Ana Aslan was told in the October 1998 IAS Anti-Aging Bulletin which is available to download from the IAS website www.antiaging-systems.com
The history of Gerovital-H3 ® began in 1946 when Ana Aslan, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Timisoara thought about all the suffering in old age. As a result she discovered a new type of medicine and proved for the first time, a scientific efficacy against the aging process.
Her life was not easy, on the contrary, she had to fight against all the misconceptions regarding cronos-age, and most of all, against the opinions of many colleagues.
After her first scientific results, Aslan introduced in 1956 for the first time at the International Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics (G. & G), in Merano-Italy, the concept of Gerontoprophylaxis. Let me tell you about what Aslan named “Decalogue” which after some time I referred as “Alan’s Ten Commandments.”
This synthesized the importance of general recommendations to delay the aging process and maintain a healthy and active life.
In 1964 working at The National Institute of Geriatrics & Gerontology in Bucharest, I was directly involved in the scientific programme of Gerovital-H3 ® studying one topic: “The effects of Gerovital- H3 in outpatients.” Over more than 10 years I elaborated on five scientific papers regarding its effects on healthy elderly people, chronic degenerative diseases and the possibility to partially reverse the aging process. From 1978 until 1990, as a Director of The Nat. Inst. Of G. & G and as a chairman of scientific topics, I have introduced new topics and methodologies to study this drug.
Many scientists from the US, Germany, UK, Japan, Austria, Italy and Romania etc. have studied Aslan’s Product and more than 400 articles have been published in scientific journa1s. Many symposiums, conferences and scientific sessions at International Congresses have been dedicated to present and to discuss the effects of her treatment.
After 54 years and after hundreds of thousands of healthy and sick people from all over the world have received Alan’s treatment, what can I say, (as a close collaborator of Aslan) about her and her famous product-Gerovital-H3 ®?
Here we are now, at the start of the second millennium and after more than 40 years of Gerovital research. I want to share two of my thoughts to doctors and to patients, because not all of the physicians recommending Gerovital-H3 ® had a training in Romania, and many people are taking this medicine over the counter .
What is it necessary for the doctors who are using Gerovital treatment to know?
When I asked Aslan how do you fight the aging, she answered:
“Old age is full of suffering and pain and I regard this as a parasite of life which develops slowly. I declared war on aging. As a gerontologist and a geriatrician you have to explain to healthy and sick people, what it means to grow old, and what they have to do in order to improve the quality of their life. My treatment is a solution and Gerovital-H3 ® is not only a treatment, it is a philosophy and a hope”.
In 1946, Aslan published her first research on Novocain and stated:
“After the first results with Novocain injection, I tried this treatment on patients with arthritis. Because these diseases are chronic, I administered each with more injections. With great joy, I noticed an improvement in the local symptoms and in their overall general condition. The biggest reward was to notice an increase in their interest in life. This lead me to the hypothesis on Novocain’s general effect on the neuro-psychical system. After doing pharmacological research, this conviction crystallized in my mind.”
Her adventure began in Timisoara, the city of Romanian revolution that took place in December 1989, and continued onto Bucharest. As soon as Aslan began publishing and sharing her treatment, more and more people started to visit her and the Institute in Bucharest. The Institute was situated in an anonymous place but gradually became the Mecca of the ill. Scientists came to learn from her and to undergo personally her treatment. Their spoken and written words are proof of the effectiveness of her method and product, Gerovital-H3 ®, which has bought so much relief and hope to the suffering.
The Characteristics of Gerovital- H3
The solution of Gerovital-H3 ® contains the following active principles:
The Gerovital H3 sugar coated tablets contain:
Pharmacokinetics Absorption
The radio-pharmacokinetic studies have shown that Gerovital-H3 ® is quickly absorbed after administration. During the first 240 minutes the two metabolites, diethylaminoethanol (DEAE) & para-amino-benzoic acid (PABA) are produced and absorbed. This result is due to procaine and esterase’s action of splitting Gerovital-H3 ®. The absorption of DEAE & PABA takes place in a competitive manner, which means that the two metabolites compete for the active sites of the mechanism that governs the absorption. The age of the subject is what differentiates the absorption of DEAE, the older tissue having a greater affinity for it.
Distribution
Radio-cromatographic experiments have showed that Gerovital-H3 ® splits into DEAE and PABA, which bind the plasma proteins no matter the route of the administration. PABA binds specially to the light molecular weight plasmatic proteins. The distribution of Gerovital-H3 ® and its metabolites is fast, both for i.m. or oral administration. At the tissue level procaine crosses the biological membranes acting upon their fluidity, and facilitating the process that imply trans-membranary transport.
Metabolism
Once absorbed by the animal organism, procaine undergoes the first stage of hydrolysis into the blood and liver resulting in DEAE and PABA (Figure 1). Radio pharmacological experiments proved that in a second stage hydrolysis, DEAE splits into ethanol amine, glycine and urea. By certain methylation processes together with “base exchange” reactions, the ethanol amine enters the synthesis cycle of choline and then acetylcholine as a next step. After injecting 99mTc-DEAE to rats, radioactive marker was found in the ethanol amine and acetylcholine extracted from brain and blood homogenates. There exists a saturation limit for metabolisation of DEAE after which the substance is eliminated.
Characteristics and mechanisms of action
Excessive levels of MAO is a common cause of mental depression. Gerovital-H3 ® is a reversible antidepressive monitoring the action of MAO rather than destroy the MAO as do traditional antidepressant drugs.
Indications
Outcome of Gerovital-H3 ® treatment
Posology and mode of administration
Before starting the treatment you must perform two tests: first inject 1ml i.d., and after 24 hours, 2ml i.m., this is in order to establish the possibility of an allergic reaction to Gerovital-H3 ®. If after the test no allergic reactions appear (such as rash, itching, eruption, general reaction of the organism with headache, vertigo, cephalic heating sensation or a metallic taste), the treatment may be continued. These effects disappeared with the treatment by respecting the post-injection rest period. It is seldom necessary to reduce the dose. Usually these side effects occur only in patients of more than 80 years of age.
In the experience of many hundreds of thousands of patients that have completed this treatment, an intolerance has only occurred in 1 in 7000 cases.
Preventive treatment of chronic diseases and to reverse partially the aging process, consists of 4 courses of 12 injections and 4 courses of 24 pills. Starting from the age of 40, the prophylactic treatment with pills only is recommended in a series of 25 tablets during 12 days, with an interval of 2 months. First day, l/day, 2 hours after breakfast increasing to the 12th day when 2 pills per day are taken (2 hours after meals, for example one at 10:00 AM and another at 4:00 PM). There should a series of 5 treatment courses in the year , which should be increased to 6 per year for people over the age of 65.
Curative treatment in chronic diseases requires 6 courses of 12 injections, and 5 courses of 24 pills, yearly. One course of 12 injections over 4 weeks (three injections per week); 2 week break followed by one course of 24 pills over 12 days, and after a further 2 week break, the cycle is then resumed. After the i.m. injection the patient should take a 10 to 15 minutes rest.
Limits of use- Contraindications
Gerocital-H3 should not be used together with eserine or prostigmine, and at the same time with sulphamides, because of the competition on the bacterial metabolism.
Precautions
Take care when administering Gerovital-H3 ® in epilepsy cases or high blood pressure. The treatment does not interfere with the vigil state or the reaction aptitude if the recommended pause after injection is adhered to. There have never been any observed cases of drug dependence. There is no evidence regarding human fetus’ risk.
Over dosage
The intoxication with Gerovital-H3 ® occurs only over 400mg in i.v. rapid injection and manifests as convulsions, hypotension, coma. The treatment to apply is non-specific, the same as for any acute intoxication. Chronic intoxication has never been observed.
Special remarks
It is possible to dilute Gerovital-H3 ® in glucose or NaCl 9%, and also to be mixed with cortisone drugs.
Information for the patient
Gerovital-H3 ® belongs to the class of drugs whose general action is upon the organism, especially in depression and overworking due to stress and over activity, also in arthritis and in other degenerative diseases.
Gerovital-H3 ® is recommended to people older than 40 who present symptoms of tiring, to those suffering from chronic disease, to prevent chronic disease or to partially reverse the aging process.
The treatment has both prophylactic and curative purposes and it is used alone or in association with other drugs in case of depression, rheumatic diseases, Parkinson or systematic arteriosclerosis.
The treatment method
It must be administered two hours after the meals, either by oral or by i.m. injection mainly at the beginning of the treatment: I recommend a 10 to 15 minutes rest.
Where Gerovital-H3 ® is not recommended
It is not recommended in the following circumstances: severe liver disease, renal failure and severe arterial high blood-pressure. A1so, it is not recommended in feverish states and in association with sulphamides, eserine and prostigmine.
Precautions regarding the treatment with Gerovital-H3 ®
You must inform your physician about the following circumstances:
The treatment with Gerovital-H3 ® should be under medical supervision, mainly in the first series of injections in order to establish the optimal dose, and eventually to reduce the doses of previously used drugs or even cancel them.
Method of administering Gerovital-H3 ®
The usual injectable dose is 1.5-2.0 mg/kg of body weight and day. This means 1 ampoule in an i.m. injection.
The usual oral dose is of 2 sugar coated tablets a day.
The patient has to follow Alan’s method presented to specialists. Other schedules of treatment will be established by the physician adapting them to the patient’s characteristics: age, associated diseases. If the patient forgets to take one or more doses, the treatment should be respectively lengthened. Do not change the prescribed doses by your own will. Go to your physician whenever you think that the drug’s efficiency is either too little or too strong.
What are the possible side-effects of Gerovital-H3 ®?
Rarely, at the beginning of the treatment the patient may observe slight vertigo, metallic taste, cephalic heating sensation. These effects disappear during the treatment. Even if the first tests do not point out an allergic reaction to procaine, the subsequent occurrence of coetaneous reactions determine that you should go to your physician.
What else should be taken into account?
Where can you obtain Gerovital-H3 ® from?
I recommend IAS, because they are importing the product directly from Romania and you have the assurance of the original Aslan product.
