Alongside the longevity claim, Gerovital was promoted as a broad treatment for the chronic diseases of age, the indication that filled the institute’s clinics. The claim is classified at a hard endpoint (disease treatment) and as refuted: the 1977 Ostfeld, Smith, and Stotsky review concluded that, except for a possible antidepressant effect, there is no convincing evidence that procaine or Gerovital has any value in treating disease in older patients, and suggested that an antidepressant effect, if real, could itself account for the reported reductions in musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and respiratory complaints. Perls (2013) reaffirmed the absence of scientifically credible evidence for age-related disease benefit.