Neurohormonal Conditions

Scientific research studies point to an array of neurohormonal problems in fibromyalgia patients.  Robert Bennett, MD, PhD and Kim Jones, PhD, continue to run research studies at the Oregon Health and Sciences University that indicate people with fibromyalgia have low growth hormone, especially when they exercise.  In an NIH funded ongoing study, blood drawn from fibromyalgia patients and health controls during exercise showed discrepancies. Unlike the healthy control people in the study, fibromyalgia patients did not secrete growth hormone during exercise.  When pyridostigmine was administered to the FM patients 1 hour before exercise, the growth hormone levels increased 8 fold, to a value comparable to the controls.  Because pyridostigmine is known to reduce somatostatin tone, it is surmised that the defective GH response to exercise in FM patients probably results from increased levels of somatostatin, a hypothalamic hormone that inhibits growth hormone secretion.  Also, continued work by Leslie Crofford, MD shows neuroendocrine imbalances in fibromyalgia patients.  Even though hormonal problems exist FM, there is still no one answer to the discrepancies and further research studies are needed to understand these changes as well as to solve the mysteries associated with these deficits.