synergistic
adj 1: used especially of drugs or muscles that work together so the total effect is greater than the sum of the two (or more); 2: working together; used especially of groups, as subsidiaries of a corporation, cooperating for an enhanced effect; "a synergistic effect"
Synergistic is the perfect word to sum up the exceptional blend of divergent backgrounds and talents of Neurogistics’ co-founders, Pam Machemehl Helmly, CN, and Carla Roberts. Following are their standard bios, plus a little something extra that will enable you to know them even better.
A graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Scientific Nutrition, Pam has worked in the healthcare industry since 1981, beginning as an undergraduate doing research at Texas Children’s Hospital in a study on Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Pam served on the NCAA professional panel for the 2004 “Project Yes” Program. She has spoken at numerous industry gatherings, including The Pharmacy Compounding Centers of America, The Brain Network, and a host of independent seminars; her topics centered on improving physical outcome for professional athletes through nutrition, women’s health issues, nutrition in pharmaceutical settings, and decreasing ADD/ADHD symptoms through nutritional intervention. She has been interviewed and quoted in numerous periodicals and professional journals, including “Eating Disorders” and “Atkins Eating” in The Good Life Magazine.
Recently acclaimed as “The Austin Nutritionist of the Year” and “Austin’s Favorite Nutritionist” in The Austin Fit Magazine Reader’s Poll, Pam is best known for her work with dedicated athletes, ADD/ADHD adults and children, and those with eating disorders and depression. Her passion and the majority of her research are related to neurological disorders. Having completed well over 7000 neurological urinalysis profiles, Pam is a leader in the field of changing the brain to improve mood, enhance sports performance, and aid in the treatment of eating disorders. Her greatest desire for the future is to expand her work in improving patient outcomes through proper cellular nutrition, improved gut integrity and balanced brain chemistry.
It wasn’t until I began working with amino acids and neurotransmitter balancing in 1998 that I realized how terribly imbalanced my own neurotransmitters had been. I can remember as a small girl (7-8 years old) lying in bed and hearing my father walk down the hall at 11 p.m. to turn down the air conditioner and go to bed. I often heard my parents' alarm clock go off long before I had to be up. I absolutely hated the night because it meant this terrible attempt at sleep.
As a teenager many of my friends called me a bit of an airhead. I graduated #1 in my high school class, but often wrote the wrong date on checks. I can remember having to look outside to see what the weather was like to try and remember what month or season it was so I would know what I needed to wear that day.
Dyslexia had always been a problem, but no one actually called the other symptoms I had ADD or ADHD. My mother insisted that I would learn to sit still and behave. Most of my teachers just made me their little assistant and kept me extremely busy after I finished my regular schoolwork. Come to think of it, that was actually to their benefit!
I exhibited other symptoms as well. Behaviors such as unreasonable fears and extreme anxiety, as well as a suppressed immune system and hormonal imbalances, which led to two prematurely delivered babies. Post pregnancy was the most difficult of all. The baby didn’t sleep, I didn’t sleep, the depression was horrific, and the hormonal imbalances persisted.
Six psychiatric hospitals later, I walked out of a hospital ICU unit after harming myself, and away from a therapist who had attempted to treat me for 4-½ years with no resolution. I decided I had to fix the situation myself.
Every day was a struggle. Family members told me repeatedly there was nothing wrong with me, that I was plenty smart enough to figure this out, and that I had everything to live for. I desperately wanted to raise my two children properly, but it was definitely a struggle to make an attempt at sanity. I was completely amazed at how easily I was put onto medications, all of which had no real effect. Although they might seem to help for a short period of time, ultimately I had to get off all medications and take a new approach.
My degree from college was in Scientific Nutrition, so when I moved to Austin, Texas, I began working with a pharmacy group, and they asked me to help develop their wellness departments. I was able to provide improvements for my patients by inputting some omega 3 fatty acids, basic multivitamins, and improving their blood glucose levels. However, it simply was not enough.
The learning curve was tremendous. Nutritional science changes daily. Current assessments of American food quality have led to the need for more supplements being developed and a need for better diagnostic testing.
Eventually, while working with the patients of a therapist who specialized in eating disorders, I brought a book to her about amino acids. We discovered that many of her patients enjoyed resolution to a number of their issues when we added certain amino acids to their new diet and supplementation regimens. Patients who had been in therapy for over 10 years were able to more positively and quickly resolve their issues with balanced brain chemistries. Unfortunately, there was no diagnostic testing for neurotransmitters at this time. What we used was a checklist for mood symptoms and food cravings, and a 24-hour urinalysis to determine excreted amino acids. This procedure was marginal at best.
Then, at a conference in 2002, I met a biochemist who owned a neurotransmitter testing laboratory. I told him about my patients’ improvements and he immediately told me that my ratios were wrong. However, the good news was that he had a lab test for neurotransmitter levels, and gave me one to test my own neurotransmitters. I was thrilled when I got my results back and found that the work I had been doing with amino acids had gotten all of my levels into an appropriate range except for one – the main neurotransmitter that is needed for sleep. But after all this time, I finally had a means to quantify the depletion and help myself, as well as improve my patients’ regimens.
There are now five laboratories in the United States performing these lab tests. I think that, in the future, testing will be the norm prior to giving medication or fully diagnosing anyone with a particular situation.
As the technology has improved, we are now able to identify further depletions, change regimens, and test for new neurotransmitters. Some of the greatest strides have come with the volume of testing that I have completed, as well as working with certain research studies.
It has also been exciting to work with my own family on their neurotransmitters. Some of them are sleeping better, and others are remembering places they played golf 24 years ago! If you ask, you’ll find that many healthcare practitioners began their pursuits in the medical sciences in order to help improve their own lives or those of their family members. As you can see, I started with myself.
Marketing Specialist and Certified Metabolic Typing Advisor
With over 25 years of strategic planning and marketing research experience, Carla has worked extensively in general advertising as well as the infomercial and direct response industries. As a former Research Director for BBDO/San Francisco and Creative Research Supervisor and copywriter for BBDO/NY, Carla specialized in product positioning, new product opportunity research, concept testing, and diagnostic market and image investigation.
For the past 20 years, Carla has run a successful consulting business, applying a research style that offers a strong marketing orientation combined with a unique understanding of the creative process. Her clients include a long list of Fortune 500 companies that span almost every product category: AT&T Wireless, Proctor & Gamble, Ponds, Sears, Apple Computer, RCA/Direct TV, Westin Hotels, Alaska Airlines, Sheraton Hotels, Holland America, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Braun, Charles Schwab, Visa, Quaker State, M&M Mars, Murad, Albertsons.com, 4 Health, Sun Chlorella, Met-RX, and NAI, to name a few.
Carla possesses extensive experience in the nutritional industry and has been involved with alternative medicine for over 25 years. She has been a certified practicing Metabolic Typing Advisor, which gives her a unique perspective on the needs of clinicians and patients alike. Carla works with various supplement companies on several levels, sourcing products and working with clients who are seeking manufacturers and formulations. In addition to conducting research studies for various nutritional supplements, she has partnered in a start-up MLM, selling Chinese Tonic Herbalism with a prominent L.A. herbalist. Carla also founded and managed a supplement business that marketed two nutritionals, an essential fatty acid specially formulated for mood elevation, and a digestive aid, well known in Europe for over 45 years. In recent years, she has taken her expertise to the practitioner arena, advising clinicians on how to market and build their practices.
will be posted on our website in the very near future.