Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain LIFE Spring 2015, Issue 11 | Page 8

HOR MONE S & FIBROM YA LGIA by Forest Tennant, MD, PhD. “Optimal pain control cannot be achieved with any major hormone deficiency.” Hormone testing and treatment is a new frontier in pain care. Patients with fibromyalgia need to be keenly aware of this new and exciting development since almost all fibromyalgia patients can benefit. What do we now know and what don’t know about this crucial subject? 8  Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Life WHY THE NEW INTEREST IN HORMONES? Three recent developments have fueled a heightened interest in hormones and pain care. One is technological. Only in the past 2 to 3 years has laboratory technology advanced to the point that multiple hormones Sp r i n g 2 0 1 5 can be analyzed rapidly from a single tube of blood. Multiple hormone tests done simultaneously are called a “hormone panel or profile.” What’s more, every fibromyalgia patient and physician in the country now has easy access to hormone profiles through their local commercial laboratory.