In November 1991, one of the oldest peer-reviewed medical journals in the world, The Lancet, suggested that the file on Voronoff’s work be reopened and in particular that “the Medical Research Council should fund further studies on monkey glands”.[4] By 1994, there were calls for a qualified apology from the orthodox medical establishment for dismissing Voronoff’s work.[16] In particular, since modern medicine has established that the Sertoli cells of the testes constitute a barrier to the immune system, rendering the testes an immunologically privileged site for the transplantation of foreign tissue, the thin slices of monkey testicles Voronoff implanted into the patient’s testicles may in theory have survived to produce some benefit.[23] In 1998, the sweeping popularity of Viagra brought forth references to Voronoff.[18][24] However, in 1999, some speculated that the AIDS virus discovered in the 1980s entered the human population through Voronoff’s transfer of monkey parts into humans in the 1920s.[25]

By 2003, Voronoff’s efforts in the 1920s reached trivia factoid status for newspapers.[26] However, as recently as 2005, Voronoff’s work in the 1920s and 1930s was noted for setting the basis for the modern anti-aging strategy of replacing hormones – the internally secreted substances that decline with age – to regain the vitality and physical attributes associated with youth.[27]

Did you happen to read the entire wikipedia entry you posted the link to?

He just believed his “procedure” could fix all of that with no reasoning whatsoever?

Surely at the time someone was going from town to town selling an “elixir” to cure the same things?

In his book Rejuvenation by Grafting (1925), Voronoff describes what he believes are some of the potential effects of his surgery. While “not an aphrodisiac”, he admits the sex drive may be improved. Other possible effects include better memory, the ability to work longer hours, the potential for no longer needing glasses (due to improvement of muscles around the eye), and the prolonging of life. Voronoff also speculates that the grafting surgery might be beneficial to sufferers of “dementia praecox”, the mental illness known today as schizophrenia.

That’s VERY interesting – I’d never heard that theory before.