AMDA Foundation - RLS: Stealth Disorder with Research Needs

Home

Vol XV, Jun `05

RLS: Stealth Disorder with Research Needs

Vol XV, Jun `05

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a common, serious, and treatable condition that many patients suffer from silently and that practitioners often ignore or fail to detect. At a recent conference about "Diseases in the Shadows," Wayne Alfred Hening, MD, PhD, talked about what physicians can do to address this issue and what research is needed to facilitate better diagnosis and treatments. Hening cited one recent study showing that nearly 10% of adults have reported symptoms of RLS to their physician but only 6% of these patients received a formal diagnosis of the condition. It is important that clinicians do a better job of addressing this issue, said Hening, because it adversely affects patients' quality of life, causes unnecessary suffering, and contributes to illnesses such as depression and anxiety.

RLS, the risk of which increases with age, often is described as "uncomfortable sensations" such as:

Creepy, crawly feeling
Like worms crawling in veins
Like bubbly soda in the veins
Itching under the skin
Crazy legs
Tooth ache feeling that can't be left alone
Excited nerves, electric-like shocks
Need to just move
Pain (in about 35% of cases)

Supportive clinical features for diagnosis include response to dopaminergic therapy, periodic leg movements, and/or a family history of RLS.

Finding the genes that contribute to RLS
Doing studies to find those factors in the environment which raise the risk for RLS
Exploring the causes of RLS (especially the dopamine/iron connection

"We need treatment studies of modalities that will not be supported by industry, including comparative studies and alternative therapies, and studies to see how to minimize side effects that can be problematic," Hening said. He added, "We especially need to focus research on RLS and its treatment in the elderly."