Once referred to as "The Greatest Strike Partnership in Football," the duo of soccer strikers Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke scored 53 goals for Manchester United in its 1998-99 season. The two were said to have a scary telepathy on the field.

Just as this duo was formidable on the pitch, there's an emerging twosome in medicine that's being shown to make a great team against chronic pain: sleep and vitamin D. A new review published in the Journal of Endocrinology has pulled together the evidence and found two important points.

First, both lack of sleep and vitamin D deficiency have independently been linked to worsening of chronic pain, such as that associated with fibromyalgia. And second, sufficient vitamin D may reduce inflammation and may be associated not only with less pain, but longer and better quality sleep, making the duo of D plus ZZZs even more powerful.

So if you suffer from fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or another condition that causes you chronic pain, make sure you're snoozing seven to nine hours a night.

And while we only have data that associates vitamin D to improved sleep quality and reduced pain, most docs think the combo is worth trying.

So aim to get the recommended 600 IU of vitamin D-3 a day: Some great sources include salmon and fortified foods like soymilk. However, most of you will need a D-3 supplement. Your goal is to reach a blood level of 35-80 ng/ml; ask your doc for a blood test.