Talk:Gerovital

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This article was listed on votes for deletion; see Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Gerovital. [[User:Poccil|Peter O. (Talk, automation script)]] 05:36, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)

For a December 2004 deletion debate over this page see Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Gerovital

Contents

[edit] Random notes to myself and others

  • The obituary of Ana Aslan, Rumanian Specialist On the Aging Process, Dies in 90's By GLENN FOWLER New York Times (1857-Current file); May 29, 1988; pg. 28: "[In Rumania] in 1994 the government-sponsored Parhon Institute of Geriatrics was established in Bucharest, and Dr. Aslan soon became it dominant figure. The institute developed in to a magnet for wealthy and prominent people... Among the famous people who took her treatments were—or were widely reported to have done so—were Gen. Charles de Gaulle, Nikita S. Khrushchev, Indira Gandhi, Marshal Tito, and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, as well as the actresses Lillian Gish and Marlene Dietrich. The vast majority of scientists outside Rumania dismissed Gerovital as another false fountain of youth. The medical establishment in Britain and the United States, including the National Institutes of Health and the American Medical Assocation, found it had no merit, and the Food and Drug Association refused to sanction it." I think what we have here is a formerly notable quack medicine whose reputation mostly did not survive that of its promoter, but which still being manufactured and sold. More if I find more. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 01:04, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC) Nope, it's not a former quack medicine, more's the pity. I've seen a slew of 1980s references to the FDA's not allowing it in interstate commerce and cracking down on people trying to sell it, but can't figure out whether that's still true or whether the "nutritional supplements" loophole opened the floodgates. Any further notes I make will go in Talk:Gerovital. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 01:04, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • Obit also says "a few scientists, including the noted endocrinologist Albert C. Simard of the Pasteur Institute in France, hailed Gerovital as a wonder drug." Holding off on mentioning this in the article until I can find out a bit more about Simard.
  • http://www.realgerovital.com/alert.htm claims to sell "real" Gerovital H3 and warns that "The American market is flooded with fake GH3®."
  • http://www.zalmo.com/fake.html states that it has real Romanian Gerovital H3 and warns "Please avoid the low quality and high prices of the US and UK illegal copies" with tips http://www.zalmo.com/fake.html for spotting fakes.
  • http://www.aslavitalpill.com/ claims to have " the ONLY ORIGINAL FORMULA BEING IMPORTED TO USA."
  • http://www.realgh3.com/number1.html cautions "Beware of the many phony GH3's; they are out there. TMI supplies such a C of A with every new order, or upon request. That's why our website is called "RealGH3.com" , we are the only company willing and able to supply documented proof of our GH3's authenticity."

Tourist attraction: http://www.romaniatourism.com/blacksea.html:

The Black Sea coast has long been known for cures of arthritic, rheumatic, internal and nervous disorders. Eforie Nord and Mangalia Spas specialize in mud baths (the mud is taken from the area's salty lake waters) as well as in world famous "Gerovital" and "Aslavital" original rejuvenation treatments.

[edit] "Aslan" and the C. S. Lewis books

I have to wonder... C. S. Lewis's first Narnia book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was published in 1950. In these books, Aslan is a magical lion who is also a Christ-like or God-like figure. It's an interesting name, and it is surprisng to me to suddenly encounter it in a completely different context. Ana Aslan was apparently just starting to become well known in 1950... I wonder if Aslan is a common Romanian surname? I wonder if Lewis was aware of it as a Romanian surname and liked the sound of it, or what? [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 02:40, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

It does not seem to be a terribly common Romanian surname. Google search on Romanian-language results only for "aslan" gives 802 hits, "aslan -ana" 509 hits so over a third of all the Aslans known to Google are Ana Aslan...

It's of Cuman origin, if anyone cares... bogdan 17:32, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Correct name of the substance always seems to have the H3

...seems to always be given as Gerovital H3. It is not just "Gerovital." There does not seem to be a hyphen between the H and the 3. I have seen some instances where the 3 was superscripted, Gerovital H3. If the article survives VfD I will leave it under Gerovital because that's shorter and easier to look up, but intend to add a redirect from Gerovital H3 and possibly GH3 and G-H3 which seem to be common abbreviations. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 21:45, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Safety

Procaine dosages suggested by Gerovital suppliers are low compared to those used for anesthesia. The "package insert" link in the article shows that one preparation contains 100 mg. of procaine per individual dose. Dosages of over 500 mg are commonly used in local anesthesia. One figure for the "minimum anesthetic dose associated with adverse reactions" 19.2 mg of procaine per kg of body weight, or over 1300 mg for an a person weighting 70 kg (154 lb). This shouldn't go into the article though because I'm not sure of my ground and this is really too close to expressing a medical opinion.

http://www.btinternet.com/~teppic2000/KurtCobainCase/DMDPT8.htm says procaine is a common adulterant in street heroin and strongly implies that it may have played a factor in Kurt Cobain's death. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 03:03, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The url http://www.btinternet.com/~teppic2000/KurtCobainCase/DMDPT8.htm cited as the basis for the above entry by Dpbsmith does not "strongly imply" - or imply at all - that procaine "may have played a factor in Kurt Cobain's death. Section 3 on the referenced url page mentions procaine is sometimes used as a filler in heroin, but does not give an opinion as to whether the heroin used by Kurt Cobain contained procaine.
It does say, however, that combining benzodiazepines (diazepam) and heroin are common partners in death because "both drugs cause respiratory depression" and increase the likelihood of respiratory failure.

      • This isn't an article. This is the talk page for the article. There's no reason to delete my comments above, which have not been used as material in the article. I was searching for well-sourced material that would show whether or not the dosages of procaine in Gerovital products represent a safety issue. The specific wording I saw in the article on Cobain's death is "Still, the importance of procaine's potential toxicity is emphasized by Nakamura..." Dpbsmith (talk) 02:29, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Still illegal as of 2004

I'm still researching this, but this Gerovital advocacy article, http://www.medical-library.net/sites/framer.html?/sites/_gerovital_(gh3).html, stays that it is still banned by the FDA, and as nearly as I can tell all websites offering to supply it are located overseas, so I'm reasonably sure it is still illegal to sell it in interstate commerce in the United States. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 17:30, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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