by PADMA HEALTH PRODUCTS, Inc

PADMA BASIC is a natural remedy, prepared according to an old Tibetan recipe. It consists of 20 dried and ground but otherwise untreated medicinal herbs, natural camphor and calcium sulphate. This particular combination of plant substances in PADMA BASIC is likewise supportive of our body's natural defence mechanisms. Thanks to the wide variety of herbs used, PADMA BASIC contains information beneficial to the whole spectrum of our body's defence mechanisms. As only small amounts of each individual plant are used, the supportive and healing inputs provided have a gentle effect. This medicinal knowledge, long applied by Tibetan doctors, has recently been confirmed in modern-day research laboratories in the West.

Padma Basic is registered in Denmark as Padma 80 as a Natural medicine under MT No. 6123093. 
 

1 tablet of Padma Basic contains: Iceland Moss Costus Root Margosa Fruit Cardamon Fruit Red Sandalwood Heart Wood Almond Fruit Allspice Bengal Quince Fruit English Plantain Licorice Root Knotgrass Golden Cinquefoil Clove Flower Gingerlily Rhizome Heartleaved Sida Valerian Root Lettuce Leaf Calendula Flower

Indications:
Pins and needles, heaviness and feelings of tension in legs and arms, numbness of hands and feet, cramps in the calf.

Padma 28 is a herbal medicine for pain in the legs on walking, as a result of poor blood supply.

IMPROVEMENTS IN MEDICINE
Average life expectancy has risen by decades during the course of the past century, thanks mainly to improvements in hygiene and in the medical treatment of infectious diseases. This is a tremendous achievement, but there are nevertheless numerous chronic diseases that still pose a threat, especially for elderly people. After all the progress made in the technical production of highly active single- ingredient chemicals or pharmaceuticals, the question still remains: how can chronic illnesses be cured.?

CHRONIC ILLNESSES
Coronary and circulatory diseases are the most common and most widely feared chronic illnesses. They are caused by atherosclerosis - also known as clogged arteries. Atherosclerosis causes a wide range of different diseases related to circulatory disorders, mainly in the legs (smoker's leg, tingling sensations), in the heart (angina pectoris, heart attack) or in the brain (memory lapse, stroke).

ATHEROSCLEROSIS BEGINS UNNOTICED
Atherosclerosis typically progresses in the following manner:
Clogged blood vessels are unable to supply the afflicted parts of the body with enough nutrients and oxygen. In the legs a narrowing of the arteries first leads to unpleasant but otherwise tolerablesymptoms such as pins and needles or prickling sensations. Later on - as the arteries become more clogged - the limbs receive less and less blood, which results in cramps and other related pain, particularly when the muscles are strained. People with such symptoms can often walk only short distances before having to stop and take a break. This disease does not begin with old age. On the contrary, the creeping build-up of arterial deposits starts relatively early in life, between the age of 20 and 30.

At first, however, the disease usually progresses unnoticed. Not until many years later does the disease emerge as a serious health problem.

BACK TO THE CENTER OF BALANCE
A healthy person maintains a state of equilibrium. Like a gently swinging pendulum, the body constantly gravitates back to the central point. This central position is the domain of health and wellbeing. Regaining this center of balance is precisely the aim of Tibetan medications: they normalise and help rebalance extreme states in the body.

PERFORMANCE-RELATED STRESS
In contemporary, result-oriented societies, the immune system is often pushed to extreme levels of performance. However, this should occur only in extreme situations, e.g. at a time of acute infection. Nobody can work properly or efficiently under constant tension for a prolonged period. Persistent cases of unrelenting pressure will eventually immobilise our immune system. Effective treatment of chronic illnesses ideally involves a spectrum of natural substances delivered in a steady, gentle manner, a principle which is embodied in PADMA BASIC. We believe this form of treatment is the only way the body can truly regain its balanced state of health. It is the potent mixture of carefully balanced natural ingredients that is vital; therein lies the strength of Tibetan medicine.

TIBETAN REMEDIES
Tibetan remedies of PADMA LTD contain a verity of different medicinal herbs and minerals. We carefully combine dried and ground herbs and compress the mixtures into tablets in our specialised plant in Switzerland. Some of the herbs we use are grown in Switzerland in conformity with organic farming principles, others are harvested in other regions of Europe and some are imported from India. Thorough quality control ensures that only top quality, uncontaminated plants and plant substances are used in our remedies.

PLANTS CAN HELP AND HEAL
Medical reports on advances in the prevention of atherosclerosis often mention the word antioxidant. What exactly does this word mean? Antioxidants are substances the body needs in order to protect itself against harmful environmental influences. These protective substances from the world of plants are, together with minerals, vitamins and trace elements, essential for the successful functioning of the body's immune system. Meticulous and diligent efforts by researchers across the globe have led to the discovery of a previously untold variety of plant substances that can favourably influence various immune functions. All parts of our immune system have to interact flawlessly in order to guarantee an effective defence against disease.

The Tibetan Herbal Food Supplement is a combination of 22 herbs in tablet dosage form.  The product is manufactured by Padma A.G., Zurich, Switzerland.

Padma Basic is a potent Tibetan antioxidant.  Padma Basic was formulated 2000 years ago.  It is based on a combination of 22 herbs.  This formulation was carried by Tibetan Buddhist philosophers and doctors the 18th century, to the west, finally arriving in Switzerland in 1960s.  The formulation was preserved by Mr. Karl Lutz.

The Lancet November 12 1994 reported, "One of the complex plant formulation examined was Padma 28 (Lancet 1994, 343: 847).  Its 22 different raw, dried plant ingredients are dense with heparinoids and flavonoids, and the formulation is providing to be a powerful mixed plant antioxidant source.  The balance of antioxidants has been reported to be important  in modulating immunological activities (Chem-Biol 1994; 91;147-58). In addition to vitamins and minerals, phyto-chemicals in plants mixtures have powerful antioxidant effect (5)." 

Indication/Possibilities of application: Tickle in arms and/or legs, tension in arms and/or legs, loss of feeling in arms and/or legs, tired legs, cramps in legs.

Dosage/Application: Initially: 3 times 2 pills per day, take with plenty of fluids 1/2 - 1 hour before meals. Maintaining dosage: 1-2 pills per day.

Limitations of application: Pregnancy/nursing period: Based on all previous experience there is no known risk for the child.

Side effects: As of now, no side effects have been known.

Package: 60 pills, 180 pills
 
 

Medicine: Seven Herbs From Tibet
By Wendy Elliman 

The setting leaps from lush Himalayan foothills to glittering Alpine valleys and onward to the austere burning wastes of the southern Negev. The main characters are an irrepressible British-born physician, an offbeat American-born kibbutznik and an enthusiastic Viennese biophysicist. Their supporting cast includes Tibetan monks, the Dalai Lama, Young Judaea veterans and first-rank hematologists, gastroenterologists, cardiologists, cell biologists and vascular surgeons from the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center at Ein Karem. 

The goal of the lead characters is to find, research, grow and manufacture herbal medicines that will do no less than heal the range of chronic and incurable diseases our flesh is still heir to. 

"Modern medicine tends to be skeptical about herbal preparations," says Dr. Sarah Sallon, director of Hadassah's four-year-old Natural Medicine Research Unit. "But researchers are becoming increasingly enthusiastic about conducting serious independent study of traditional remedies." 

Several of them are at Hadassah, where the world's largest research project into the esoteric discipline of Tibetan medicine is now under way — a project praised and blessed by the Dalai Lama himself when he visited three years ago. 

Scientific examination of Tibetan healing has only recently become possible. Developed in the remote Himalayan kingdom 2,000 years ago, its closely guarded secrets were taught only to a handful of monks. With the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950's, however, and the flight of the Dalai Lama to Dharamsala in India, Tibetan medicine has at last spilled beyond the confines of the monasteries. 

"When I was working in India in 1987, I went to visit the Dharamsala hill station," says Dr. Sallon. "What I saw fascinated me and I began investigating it." 

After she returned to Israel, Dr. Sallon made contact with the world's only commercial producer of Tibetan medicines, Padma, a 30-year-old Swiss company. Following creation of the NMRU, it was Padma (named for the Tibetan word for lotus) that provided seed money for the current independent research. 

The NMRU quickly interested a number of Hadassah's most thoughtful researchers. Dr. Yaakov Berlatzky, head of the vascular surgery department, and Dr. Gidon Beer, head of the vascular testing laboratory, have recently completed a three-year study of 80 elderly patients with painfully clogged arteries in their legs — a condition for which there is only limited medical treatment. They found the herbal preparation Padma Basic (used in Tibet for disorders caused by overconsumption of yak meat, fat and alcohol) bettered the walking ability of most as well as improving blood pressure in their legs. 

Dr. Yaakov Matzner of Hadassah's hematology department demonstrated that this same preparation "is a potent antioxidant" containing substances that mop up the excessive free radicals which contribute to inflammation and atherosclerosis (the so-called "hardening of the arteries" that often leads to stroke and heart attack). Dr. Isaac Ginsburg of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine founded by the Alpha Omega Fraternities showed that Padma Basic also seems to interfere with the laying down of harmful fat layers in the blood vessels. And investigation by Dr. Israel Vlodovsky, Hadassah's head of tumor cell biology, suggests that Padma Basic may also work by inhibiting the growth of smooth muscle cells that occlude blood-vessel walls. 

This last finding underlies a new joint study between Hadassah cardiologist Dr. Chaim Lotan and Britain's London Chest Hospital. They are now investigating whether Padma Basic can prevent renarrowing of the arteries after balloon angioplasty, a major problem for which there is currently no treatment. And to complete Hadassah's current research into Tibetan remedies, gastroenterologist Dr. Moshe Legumsky is testing another preparation, Padma Lax, on irritable bowel syndrome, which in the West accounts for about 70 percent of all visits to gastroenterologists. Although his study is not yet complete, early results look promising. 

Padma is delighted with its Hadassah association. "We were very excited to find a scholarly institution with a reputation for high-level research interested in studying Tibetan medicines," says Herbert Schwabl, a Viennese-born biochemist who is Padma's managing director. 

But the growing popularity of Padma's preparations, engendered by the results of scholarly research, has presented the company with a major problem. 

"We've been buying herbs from spice companies and European growers," says Schwabl. "But because each of our products comprises up to 20 different herbs, we need only small quantities of each, so large growers have little interest in us. Add to that that we need organically grown plants, and that Asian herbs grow differently in our climate, and you see that supply of raw materials is a great challenge." 

Enter again Dr. Sallon. "During the research, we've developed very warm relations with Padma and we wanted to help them out," she says. "Israel is known for its agricultural expertise, and we have a range of climatic zones here — desert, mountainous, Mediterranean, subtropical — so I started looking around for reliable, high-quality growers." 

Dr. Sallon had no idea when she first approached Kibbutz Ketura, 30 miles north of Eilat, that the kibbutz had been founded by Young Judaea, or that its chief horticulturalist, Elaine Solowey, had already grown aloe for Hadassah's dermatology department. "I simply found Ketura to be the best place," she says. "I found them very expert, research-minded and very enthusiastic." 

A former Californian, Solowey welcomed the project with open arms. "I was looking for an organic project," she says, "because that's the way I believe all agriculture should be. With medicinal herbs, of course, there are no acceptable levels for pesticides or herbicides." 

She began planting herbs for Padma in the inert Negev soil — golden cinquefoil, columbine, costus roots from China and a small orchard of loquat trees from Japan. In July, she began a test batch of neem trees; within four months they reached her shoulders. Some 200 neems (used in organic insecticides) are now flourishing in the hot dusty wastes. She's also trying her first aquatic plant, an experimental patch of lotus, whose pistils and stamens have been highly regarded in the East for their medicinal value for thousands of years. 

"At the moment, I've got them in styrofoam trays while I see how many flowers I can get to the square meter," she says. "If it works, I'll ask the kibbutz for an old poultry run with a cement floor, flood it and grow lots of lotus." 

Aquatic plants in the middle of the desert? "It's no stranger than growing eggplant or dates down here," she says. "We have lots of sunlight and we have brackish water. All that's missing is the nutrients, and we channel them in. In my experimental grove I have dozens of fruit species I'm trying to domesticate. I have an orchard of 1,500 Moroccan argania trees, whose nut makes the best and lowest-cholesterol oil in the world." 

Solowey has given over two of her 20 experimental acres to medicinal herbs for Padma. With scrounged equipment and student labor (she teaches Sustainable Agriculture under the aegis of Tel Aviv University's Institute for Environmental Studies), she's working in two contrasting areas: the low hot land next to the kibbutz, where she has brackish aquifer water; and the higher cooler fresh-water site of Shittim in the Negev mountains. 

"I've found that if I irrigate certain herbs slightly, their foliage increases several times over, which in turn increases their dry weight — just what the client needs." 

Solowey has come on board for a second NMRU venture — the Middle East Medicinal Plant project. Together with the Hebrew University's National Herbarium under Dr. Clara Cheyn, the NMRU aims to catalog and investigate some of the rich tradition of Israel's 3,000 plant species. "Many of Israel's native plants are known to be highly medicinal," says Dr. Sallon, "but 90 percent of them have never been formally tested." 

The MEMP study is based on the archival collection of the late Dr. David Zaitchek of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School. For over 50 years he collected thousands of plant specimens and documented their medicinal use among Bedouin, Druze, Galilee Arabs and Middle Eastern Jewish communities. 

"We've been entering Dr. Zaitchek's collection into a specially created database," Dr. Sallon explains. "When we find further funding, we plan to interview traditional healers in the different communities about how they use medicinal plants today. And we very much want to test those plants for medicinal activity in Hadassah's laboratories, focusing the study of each on its traditional use." 

"We'll be beginning with those that seem to have a good effect on cardiac activity, according to traditional knowledge," says Solowey. "Among them are fragrant star and red doc. They're easy to grow because essentially they're weeds. But if they're found to work, people are going to run all over the wadis pulling them up and the supply in the wild will be depleted. We're also planting some of the rarer specimens which are disappearing because of urbanization. Our aim is to make Ketura a source of high-quality raw material — plants whose study won't denude the wild." 

Medicine and agrotechnology are two fields in which Israel has long excelled. With 2,000 years of Tibetan tradition, Swiss business acumen and two scientists with enough drive between them to power an F16, it looks as if the disciplines are verging on a highly successful marriage.