Neurological leg disorder is easily diagnosed, treated

BY HEATHER WARLICK Comments 0
Published: January 6, 2009

"It was so frustrating, like a mystery I couldn’t solve.” Cue: extreme close-up of an average-looking American soccer-mom type. Cut to: bedroom scene with the same woman thrashing around her bed, trying to get comfortable. "Night after night, strange sensations in my legs. I had to get up and move when all I wanted to do was rest.”

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Experts at the Integris Sleep Disorders Center want to answer your questions about restless leg syndrome and other sleep disorders. They also will connect you with a free support group. Call (888) 537-5337.

If you’ve watched television within the last year, you’ve undoubtedly seen this commercial for Requip, a medicine to treat restless leg syndrome, or RLS.

Another RLS drug commercial features a stick figure that can’t seem to relax. All its green and yellow limbs want to do is move. Enter Mirapex, and suddenly our stick figure hero is kicking "lightning legs,” "creepy crawlies,” "pins and needles” and the uncontrollable "urge to move.” It’s a happy ending for the stick figure and the Requip soccer mom, who find rest and leg comfort by the end of their 60-second ads.

But what is RLS? RLS is a neurological disorder found in up to 10 percent of people, said Georgi Bell, executive director of the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation. The disorder is characterized by the intense urge to move your legs, especially when trying to rest, sit still at a movie, at work or on an airplane. Moving your legs can relieve the urge, but RLS often disrupts sleep, causing daytime drowsiness and fatigue and, in extreme examples, disrupting your quality of life.

"The nice thing is restless legs syndrome is easy to diagnose. Most patients respond to a trial of medication like Mirapex or Requip, but some patients do require other medications,” said Dr. Jonathan Schwartz, medical director of the Integris Sleep Disorders Center. Aside from Mirapex and Requip, Schwartz said there are other methods for treating RLS such as iron supplements, if iron levels are low.

Iron deficiency is a common condition found in many RLS sufferers. Experts aren’t sure whether iron deficiency is the primary cause of RLS, but Bell said a recent study at Johns Hopkins Hospital found intravenous doses of iron improved RLS symptoms in many patients. Additionally, a collection of donated brain tissue at Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center shows marked differences in the iron content in brains of RLS sufferers compared to the control group.

But don’t self-diagnose and start taking iron pills because blood iron overload can be hazardous — even life threatening. An iron test is required to determine if you are deficient. A serum ferritin test measures total body iron stores, and a result below 50 ng/dl (nanograms per deciliter) indicates low blood iron stores.

RLS runs in families and is more common among women, Schwartz said. If you have other symptoms such as snoring that accompany your RLS, you should consider a sleep study.

Learning what triggers your RLS symptoms can help you learn how to deal with it. Caffeine, nicotine and late-night eating can be triggers. For many, a hot bath, mild exercise and massage can help relieve symptoms. Also, Bell said any activity that occupies your mind, such as reading, surfing the Internet or watching television, can help.