Have you ever
woken up at night with the strong urge to move your legs or experienced a heaviness in your legs
that has been relieved after you tried moving your legs? Well it might not seem
a big deal at the instance but if you experience this often, you might be
suffering from Restless Legs Syndrome, a disorder of the part of nervous system
that leads to a severe itch to move or shake one’s legs with usually an
unpleasant feeling. This uncomfortable sensation generally tends to occur in
the evening or night-time hours when you are sitting or lying down. While
moving your legs might ease out the sensation, it is only a temporary solution.
Also known as Willis-Ekbom diseases (WED), restless leg syndrome can initiate
at any age and worsen as the person grows and even disrupt sleep and everyday
activities. It is also considered as a sleep disorder by some and has been
observed more in women than men.
SYMPTOMS
The major symptom of
restless legs syndrome, as the name suggests, is the strong need to move the
legs, accompanied with an uncomfortable sensation of restlessness in the legs.
This sensation usually happens after taking rest or lying down or sitting over
a long period of time.
The
sensations are usually difficult to explain and tend to vary but usually happen
on both sides of the body in the legs. In case of restless legs syndrome, these
sensations usually happen within the limb and not in the skin. Some of these
sensations are crawling, creeping, pulling, throbbing, aching, itching,
electric, etc. The symptoms can fluctuate in their time of occurrence as well
as frequency and severity.
CAUSES
There is no
particular cause for restless legs syndrome. Some experts and researchers
suspect that an imbalance of dopamine (the brain chemical responsible for
sending messages to control muscle movement) can lead to restless legs
syndrome.
Long hours of travel
or long movies can also cause this sensation.
Restless legs
syndrome can sometimes also be hereditary especially if it begins before the
age of 40. Sites on the chromosomes where genes for restless legs syndrome
maybe there have been identified.
Hormonal changes or
pregnancy can also sometimes enhance the signs of the syndrome.
Women sometimes get
restless legs syndrome for the first time during their pregnancy especially in
the last trimester.
More
often than not, restless legs syndrome is not linked with any other serious
underlying medical issues. However, sometimes certain medical conditions such
as the following can be accompanied by restless legs syndrome:
Peripheral neuropathy
that damages the nerves in one’s hands or feet and can occur as a cause of some
chronic disease like diabetes and alcoholism.
Iron deficiency, even
without anaemia, can worsen restless legs syndrome. Various reasons like a
history of bleeding from stomach or bowels, or heavy menstrual periods can lead
to iron deficiency.
Kidney failure that
often comes with iron deficiency, usually with anemia can lead to changes in
the body chemistry and further increase restless legs syndrome. When kidneys do
not function properly, the iron stored in the blood can decrease.
Spinal cord lesions
have also been observed to have a connection with restless leg syndrome. A
spinal block, having had anesthesia to the spinal cord can increase the risk of
developing restless leg syndrome/wed.
COMPLICATIONS
Although restless
legs syndrome does not really lead to any major or serious health condition,
its symptoms vary and can range from hardly bothering to severely incapacitating.
Many a time, people
with restless legs syndrome find it difficult to get appropriate sleep and
hence affect their daily routine activities.
Insomnia can further
accelerate excessive daytime drowsiness but restless legs syndrome is likely to
interfere with napping.
In turn, severe
restless legs syndrome can also cause marked impairment in life quality and can
also result in depression.
Restless legs
syndrome can also be associated with another common medical condition termed
periodic limb movement of sleep and makes one’s legs twitch and kick, mostly
all through the night while one is asleep.
WHEN TO SEE A DOCTOR
A common worry with
restless legs syndrome is often ignorance. Due to the not so severe outcomes or
symptoms, it is often not taken as seriously or not even considered as any
syndrome by many still. Mostly people never seek for medical advice for this
condition but the frequent occurrence of restless leg syndrome can affect the
quality of life severely in the longer run.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Restless legs
syndrome can be take care of with simple self-care steps and lifestyle changes.
More than just medications, improving one’s sleeping cycle and increasing the
physical activities can help make the condition better. Mild movements such as
stretching, jiggling, pacing or walking also help.
The
writer is a Consultant Neurologist at Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal, Bangalore
