Restless Leg Syndrome May Be Related To Bigger Health Problems

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) may signify bigger health problems, according to a sleep expert.

Restless Leg Syndrome

In her editorial that appears in the March 5, 2014 issue of Neurology,  the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology,  Boston Medical Center neurologist Sanford H. Auerbach, MD said RLS is a possible biomarker for underlying disease.

A disorder of the nervous system, RLS causes uncomfortable sensations in a person's legs which lead to an overwhelming urge to move them – most often at night or whenever the patient is resting.

Auerbach's editorial was in response to an analysis of 12,556 men who were followed over time by the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, published in the same issue of Neurology, which showed multiple disease associations with RLS.

"Patients with RLS had a higher mortality rate than similar men, and showed an especially strong tendency toward cardiovascular disease and hypertension," said Auerbach, associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.

In earlier analyses of the same data, men with RLS were more likely to be diagnosed with lung disease, endocrine disease, diseases of nutrition and metabolism and immune system problems. 

Auerbach suggests that Restless Leg Syndrome is a meaningful biomarker for serious disease, and that RLS screening may become more common as a tool for primary care providers to identify patients at risk.