A phony anti-aging drug that was banned 30 years ago in the U.S. may be making an illegal comeback, research shows.

Thomas Perls, MD, of Boston Universitys School of Medicine, said that anti-aging and longevity clinics advertise Gerovital H3 in pill form and as intravenous infusions. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA0 banned the subanstance in 1982.

His findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Gerovital H3, the dental anesthetic novocaine, was widely abused in the 1950s by Hollywood stars, and is often included as an additive to cocaine. A study conducted by a Romanian physician in that same decade claimed that the substance had substantial anti-aging properties. That study was later discredited. Later studies failed to prove that Gerotival H3 prevented cognitive impairment or dementia.

Yet today an internet search comes up with more than 300,000 hits, including sales of the substance by U.S.-based companies.

Perls said that the recent jump in marketing and sales in the U.S. is primarily due to Internet-based marketing.

Inquiring patients and the public, he added, need to be informed about the approved and unapproved uses of procaine hydrochloride and aware that there is no scientific evidence supporting any systemic health benefits or anti-aging effects of the drug.

See the rest here:
Beware of This Fake Anti-Aging Drug