Valley News from Van Nuys, California • Page 19

Dattey News Section 3 Sunday, October 16,1077 Gerovital: An illicit elixir for senior citizens By BRIAN ALEXANDER The wrinkles and worries of old age came before their time for 48-year-old Loraine Kuntz of Mission Hills, propelled by the deaths of her mother and her only child. She began to gain weight after her mother died two years ago. When her 15-year-old son died in and accident, a shroud enveloped her brain and muffled her mind. She couldn't concentrate on her work in real estate, her red hair began to fade, she cried easily. Remembering a "youth drug" called Gerovital that she had read about two years before, she tracked down a firm that arranges for Americans to receive DR.

ALFRED T.SAPSE Valley News photo by John Rosenteli treatments with the illegal drug. On Aug. 17, she went on the first "tour" to Mexico arranged by Gero- tours of Beverly Hills. Now, she says she is losing weight, looking and feeling less tense, regaining her hair color, feeling more confident and brimming with energy. Her sense of humor is restored.

"And I can think! From the time my mom passed away until I had gone (for the treatments), it was like there was a fog on my It was just like a whole cloud was lifted from my forehead. "It's like having your good days all the time." When her husband, Charles, saw the improvement in her attitude, he also signed up for a Gerotour, and reports similar results. They receive ongoing supplies of Gerovital from Europe via mail. That's illegal, according to the FDA. Eugene Berk, a consumer safety specialist for the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration, says importation of the drug for purposes other than anesthesia is illegal. However, he says, Customs officials often allow persons entering the country to bring in personal supplies. Mail apparently is not checked. Purposes other than anesthesia? That's right. Gerovital is nearly identical to the procaine hydrochloride (Novocam) dentists use as a local anesthetic.

Promoters say Gerovital contains other ingredients which prevent the procaine from breaking down as it normally does. The FDA couldn't find those ingredients. Berk says. Rumanian physician Ana Asian developed Gerovi- tal and introduced itat a conference on aging in 1956. She had used it on a group of elderly patients and claimed that it alleviated nearly every symptom of aging: heart problems, wrinkled skin and baldness, loss of energy and, especially, depression.

Since then, several researchers have sought to confirm or disprove her claims, and news media have touted the drug as a major threat to the nursing home industry. One physician who says he has successfully duplicated Asian's findings is Dr. Alfred T. Sapse, founder of Gerotours. Sapse says, in his thick accent, that he was an intern working under Dr.

Asian and saw "with disbelieving eyes" the youth-restoring properties of Gerovital. He founded Rom-Amer Pharmaceuticals in the United States many years later to market the drug here. He blames the" FDA for obstructing him, and casts himself as a lonely pioneer fighting a powerful and pernicious U.S. government. Sapse says that Gerovital destroys a brain chemical called monoamine oxidase or MAO.

MAO, he says, has been linked to depression, and builds up more rapidly in persons beyond the age of 45 or so. He admits theory of Gerovitars action has not been proven, but likens the situation to that of aspi- nn. No one knows how aspirin works, either, but it does. "You take someone and you rut him in four pieces," Sapse says. "Obviously this guy must be dead But after you put the pieces back together, say you add some glue or something, and this guy is alive again.

"The FDA will say 'We're very interested but tell us why. How did it They are more interested in the pharmacological action than in what it is doing for the patient from a clinical standpoint." By all reports, Sapse's Gerotours does seem to be one of the more restrained promoters of the drug. He charges his patients about $1,000 for thorough medical pre-examination, a week at a Ramada Inn in Tijuana with daily injections of Gerovital and other drugs as indicated (such as vitamins or thyroid and a threp-wppk supply of Gerovital. He says younger people should not be given the drug (because they have all the chemicals required to pull out of depression on their own) while other tour operators will accept clients of any age. He says he modulates the Gerovital dosage whereas some promoters give a standard dosage to all patients.

He says half of the people who ask to receive the treatments are turned away, usually because they have diseases like cancer which cannot be cured by Gero- vital. Sapse says nearly all of the reported benefits of Gerovital treatments can be traced to alleviation of depression, although a few physical results like hair color and skin tone might not be directly linked to happiness. Mrs. Kuntz agrees that most of the improvement she has seen in herself is related to the lifting of that "cloud" which had enveloped her. Much of the current research surrounding the drug is focusing on its purported antidepressant qualities.

A few scientists have published findings indicating Gerovital is more effective than a placebo in curing depression. They also say that Gerovital lacks most of the harmful side effects of other drugs which inhibit MAO, although it is not necessarily safer than other types of antidepressants. The FDA's Berk says the drug's safety "has not been established," especially in tablet form. As an inject- able anesthetic, he says, procaine "is not too dangerous considering the other anesthetics on the market, but it does have its adverse effects." USC Professor of Pharmacy Edward S. Brady says Gerovital "hasn't had a good clinical trial" yet.

He believes the drug is of "no therapeutic value" and is only kept alive by media hype and frequent symposia on the problems of aging. He dismisses testimonials. "In many geriatric patients, a change of scenery is helpful, a change of environment," he says. "If you take them out of a private home or any place else where they're unhappy and put them into a warm atmosphere, with a physician who is really very concerned with them and gives them injections daily, or if they cling to a tablet medication which is supposed to make them feel better and everybody around them says, 'Well, you feel a hell of a lot better now, don't this in itself has a very profound effect upon the elderly patient." Sapse points to studies comparing Gerovital against a placebo which show a "statistically significant" difference in favor of Gerovital in malting the patient feel less depressed. The drug has been legalized in 50 nations, he says, as well as the state of Nevada.

It does cause lowered blood pressure and euphoria, he says of its side effects, but adds that no one has died from it in its 25-year history. He left Rom-Amer to form Gerotours in response to desperate pleas from depressed seniors, he says. Professor Brady, like the FDA, wants to see more "head-on measurement" of Gerovital's effects, and he says that is the consensus of pharmacologists. "I think the scientific-medical community has no enthusiasm for this product, and grave misgivings," he says. Until conclusive information is available, potential users of the drug will have to choose whether to believe the medical community, with its expertise, or Loraine Kuntz.

with hers. Whether opera or hoedown his theme song's success By FRAN ERWIN Sam Lovullo, the producer of "Hee Haw," can thank his Italian mother and father for his love of country music. Not that they ever heard any, but when Sam was a little boy, back in Buffalo. N. his parents took him with them whenever they went to the opera.

"In opera, the plot comes first, then the music," Lovullo says. "It's the same with country music. The lyrics come first, then the melody. "The opera tells a story. It's tragedy or comedy.

Country music tells a story. It's sad or humorous." Back in his childhood, Lovullo had no idea that he'd ever be in show business. Nor did he plan such a career, even after he was a grown man. It just happened. After graduating from UCLA with a BA degree in business, Lovullo, who has been an Encino resident for the past 18 years, went to work for CBS.

And the only music activity he was interested in at that point was harmonizing the budget in the accounting department Later, he was promoted to business manager for the network's west coast operations. Lovullo then started negotiating contracts for various CBS shows in addition to his administrative work and this led to being named associate producer of the Jonathan Winters Show as well as "Hee Haw." When the network dropped "Hee Haw," Luvollo took a leave of absence in order to continue working on the show he believed in so much. He became "Hee Haw's" producer and built it into the number one syndicated show in the nation. He never went back to his administrative job. And since this is the era of television spin-offs, Luvollo has created the "Hee Haw Honies," which will star three pretty girls in a situation comedy about going to Nashville to make it big in the country music world.

But Ixwullo's creativity doesn't stop here. He has another show in the planning stage. This one will be called "Goober," and will be a spin-off of the Andy Griffin Show. Goober will live in peanut country around Plains, and one, of the first guest stars on the show be a country western singing star. Lovullo also heads another big new project called Cinemavision.

His company will shoot one-minute commercials which will be shown in motion picture theaters across the country. Cinemavision, as Lovullo has conceived it, will be beneficial not only to the sponsors, who often find there is no more time left on television, but also to the exhibitor, who will be paid for screening the commercials. The exhibitor, Lovullo learned, is not making money because most of his take goes to the distributor. The exhibitor lives in fear of losing his buNsi- ness because of constant rising prices. "So we have made a deal with the movie houses-we have agreed to sell all commercials for S18 a minute.

Now, a lot of people tell me I'm crazy, but I'm not money hungry," Lovullo says. "Then, out of the $18, I'm going to give back S9 to the theater owner who, in turn, has agreed to lake half of his S9 and put it in a trust fund. Then, at a later date, with the monies from the trust fund, the theater owner will produce their own motion pictures. "When the theater owners make their own movies, they won't have to raise box-office prices. This, in turn, will benefit the public.

Neither will the theater owner be forced to take motion pictures he doesn't want to exhibit in his theater in order to pay the rent" According to Lovuilo. there are 16.000 motion picture houses across the country and. so far, half of them have signed up for the newly formed Cinemav- ision concept Lovullo assures that the spot commercials, about one minute in length, will not bore the public. "They will be humorous, very entertaining," he says, "not the average commercials you see on television." In order to perfect his ideas. Lovullo plans to hire the top creative talent in the industry: writers, directors, actors, musicians.

"Some of the commercials." he says, "will be cartoons." All of the work will emanate from Lovullo's Youngstreet Productions, headquartered in the building he's renovating for tfiat purpose at Hollywood Blvd and Gower St And sharing the wealth a step further, says that the production of the commercials will be a boon lo writers, actors, models, singers, musicians, directors and media technicians As on television, residuals will be paid for re-runs of the comemercials, all of which will be statistically computerized. Lovullo. one of the founders of the Encino Little League and Encino T-Ball League, has served continually on the board of directors and twice as president (He and his wife Grace are the parents of four children: Linda 22, Lisa 19, Tony 18and Torey 12.) Lovullo says one of his success secrets is his basic philosophy, "It's not a two-way street; it's a three- way street The talent and I have to make a living; the television station owner (andr theater owner) has to make a living, and the sponsor has to make a living. And I've got to sell his product." The other secret. Lovullo says.

"Is being a good listener. I judge the pulse of the public opinion that way. I not only listen to what people say to me in person. I also read all the fan mail that pours into 'Hee Haw." Letters are Mr. and Mrs.

America's conversation." When Lovullo's parents took him to the opera, they had no idea they were contributing to the growth of one of America's leading country music impresario's Lovullo's "Hee Haw." it appears has become the grand old 'opry" of television. SAM LOVULLO KWSPAPERl SPAPER.