The active ingredient of Gerovital H3 is procaine. Procaine is a local anaesthetic first synthesised in 1905 by Alfred Einhorn a German scientist. It was used and preferred for minor surgery, dentistry and procedures near the surface of the skin. It numbed the area, broke down quickly and soon left the system. It produced no side effects and showed few allergic consequences. As with many scientific discoveries, the regenerative potentials of procaine 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 (1).

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 ageing. (2,3) 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 and 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. Once stabilised, the procaine molecule could not react with the same speed in the cells. The numbness did not occur and the cholinesterase was not called up. The resulting compound stayed in the body more than six hours and had no anaesthetic qualities. Presumably, this magnified any regenerative effects by a factor of at least six. It also gave the ingredients sufficient time to reach the organs.

Claims coming out of the Institute's clinics for the next few years were viewed as outlandish. Patients treated with GH3 supposedly 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 (4)

Dr Aslan`s continuing research caught the attention of Gerontologists in West Germany, who invited her there in 1956. She presented her findings to a group of her peers in Karlsruhe at the Therapy Congress meeting. The attendees treated her uncommon claims with scepticism and rejection.

Still convinced of her clinical results, she continued her research in Romania for another year. This time she filmed all the results. Some months later, she received tolerant coverage in a respectable West German medical journal. She was invited back to Karlsrhue where the assembled scientists gave her a warm response. (5)