Restless Legs Syndrome is a sensory and motor neurological disorder that affects the patient’s quality of life through nighttime sleep deprivation. Willis Ekbom disease is a condition more commonly diagnosed in females and those aged between 50 and 65 years, its incidence in the population increasing with age.
What is restless legs syndrome?
Causes of restless legs syndrome
What are the symptoms of Willis Ekbom disease?
Treatment of restless legs syndrome
What is restless legs syndrome?
Restless Legs Syndrome is a neurological disorder of the sensory and motor type that affects the patient’s quality of life through nighttime sleep deprivation. Willis Ekbom disease is a condition more commonly diagnosed in females and those aged between 50 and 65, with the incidence of the condition in the population increasing with age.
Causes of restless legs syndrome
The neurological disorder can be classified into 2 categories depending on the mechanism of occurrence:
- Primary idiopathic with possible genetic transmission
- Secondary due to low levels of iron, magnesium or folic acid in the body, peripheral neuropathies, amyloidosis, diabetes mellitus, Lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, hypothyroidism, chronic alcoholism, pregnancy or certain drug therapies with neuroleptics, tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or estrogens
What are the symptoms of Willis Ekbom disease?
People suffering from restless legs syndrome have the following clinical symptoms:
- Uncontrollable urge to move the legs associated with paresthesia in the lower limbs (numbness, tingling, burning sensation)
- Pain in the lower limbs, especially in the calves
- Motor restlessness
- Symptoms occur during the night and subside when daytime activity resumes
- Frequent nocturnal awakenings
- Sleep disorders (insomnia)
- Chronic fatigue
- Daytime asthenia
- Decreased ability to concentrate
- Headache
- Anxiety and depressive disorders
Diagnosis of restless legs
The diagnosis of restless legs syndrome is established by the neurologist based on the patient’s history and clinical examination and is supported by the results of a polysomnography.
Treatment of restless legs syndrome
Non-pharmacological treatment methods used to reduce symptoms in patients diagnosed with restless legs syndrome aim to improve the quality of night sleep and reduce symptoms by modifying the diet (avoiding alcohol and coffee), giving up smoking, avoiding certain drugs (dopamine antagonists, difehydramine), regular exercise and physiotherapy with hot baths, massage, hydromassage or electrostimulation.
The etiological treatment of restless legs syndrome due to vitamin deficiency and iron deficiency is carried out with the help of food supplements that correspond to the body’s consumption needs.
Drug therapy to relieve insomnia and chronic fatigue is carried out by administering dopaminergic agents or benzodiazepines which may be combined with an anticonvulsant to achieve optimal results.
Learn More:
- An Algorithm for the Management of Restless Legs Syndrome – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025619611621605
- Restless Legs Syndrome – https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp021288
- Restless legs syndrome: diagnostic criteria, special considerations, and epidemiology: A report from the restless legs syndrome diagnosis and epidemiology workshop at the National Institutes of Health – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1389945703000108
