Workshops on Research Methodologies
In 2003, NMRC provided a series of workshops in Dharamsala, India for staff at MTKI.
Given by Dr. Sallon, Director of NMRC, the workshops on clinical research
methodologies aimed at providing MTKI staff with tools for designing and evaluating their own studies on Traditional Tibetan Medicine according to modern guidelines.
The workshops are intended to form part of a continuing education program between MTKI and NMRC and will be expanded in the future subject to funding
Fellowship in Public Health
In 2003, NMRC supported Doctor Gendun Dargay, in the Masters program at The Braun School of Public Health Hadassah.
With funds provided by Hadassah Women Zionist Organization of America (HWZOA), this fellowship program created a unique opportunity for introducing a traditional Tibetan doctor to modern research practices, at Israel's foremost School of Public Health.
Training in sustainable agriculture
In 2005 NMRC welcomed Dr. Tsultrim Kalsang, senior physician and pharmacist at Men-Tsee-Khang to a training program in sustainable agricultural techniques at Kibbutz Ketura, in the southern Arava region of Israel.
Dr. Kalsangs two month visit, generously supported by The Cammelia Foundation (UK), was devoted to conserving endangered medicinal plants used in Tibetan Medicine. Techniques learned in this unique program will make a major contribution to the cultivation of these plants in specially prepared sites in the Himalayan and desert regions of India.
STUDIES ON PADMA PRODUCTS
Padma AG, is a Swiss pharmaceutical company that produces multi-ingredient formulas based on Tibetan Medicine.
From 1994 to 2000 The Natural Medicine Research Center evaluated the effectiveness, safety and mechanism of several of these formulas using the facilities at Hadassah hospital and School of Medicine.
Studies have included the research of the traditional formulas;
Padma 28 used historically in Tibet to counteract the effects of an over consumption of meat, fat and alcohol
Padmalax traditionally used as a bowel tonic
Padma 28, a complex Tibetan formula containing 22 individual plants and minerals, is used to treat claudication or pain on walking.
Presenting with painful cramps this common condition is caused through atherosclerosis, the clogging of arteries with fatty deposits and is the principal cause of morbidity and mortality in the West, associated with heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease.
From 1994-99 NMRC extensively studied the activity of Padma 28 at HMO in conjunction with the Depts of Vascular Surgery and Tumor Biology and with researchers at the School of Medicine (Oral Pathology), and Universities of Mcgill (Canada), Liverpool (UK) and UC–Middlesex Hospitals, (UK).
In laboratory and clinical studies, Padma 28 demonstrated pronounced anti–atherosclerotic activity and significant benefits for patients with claudication.
The results of these studies initiated by NMRC and published in a number of scientific journals have contributed to one of the largest research projects in the world on Tibetan medicine
Padmalax Padmalax is a Tibetan formula containing 15 herbs and minerals, a popular treatment for constipation in Switzerland.
From 1996-2000, NMRC carried out a controlled clinical trial on Padma Lax together with Prof. Moshe Ligumski of the Gastroenterology Dept. at Hadassah.
The study showed for the first time that this multi-ingredient preparation was highly effective in treating many of the symptoms of Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome with results published in the journal Digestion in 2001.
CONSERVATION OF TIBETAN
MEDICINAL PLANTS
The increasing demand for Tibetan medicines particularly in China has caused the over harvesting of many species, with the virtual extinction of some plants and many more on the list of endangered species.
An important priority of NMRC is to conserve plants used in Tibetan medicine by domesticating them in cultivation programs.
NMRC`s first cultivation project was initiated in 1997 at Kibbutz Ketura in the southern Arava region of Israel.
Under the expert supervision of Dr. Elaine Solowey, a world authority on sustainable desert agriculture, a number of important plants and trees used in Tibetan medicine were domesticated for the first time in Israel.
These included rare Bael Aegyle marmelos trees, Lowquat species and more than 300 Neem trees.
Originally planned as a commercial source of Tibetan medicinal plants, the Ketura cultivation project uses only organic farming techniques and functions in harmony with the arid climate of southern Israel, similar to many parts of the Tibetan plateau.
The plantation site also serves as a research station and field school for teaching sustainable agriculture to Tibetan Horticulturists.