Restless Legs Syndrome is a neurological disorder where the suffer has an overwhelming urge to move the legs. This urge is accompanied by varying degrees of uncomfortable or painful sensations in the legs. Thomas Willis first described RLS way back in 1685 but it was not until 1945 that the Swedish neurologist Karl A. Ekbom described the disorder giving it the name of "restless legs". Though now called Restless Legs Syndrome, it is sometimes referred to as "Ekbom's syndrome" after the researcher Karl Ekbo.
Symptoms
People suffering from RLS have described the feelings they get in their legs as pulling, drawing, crawling, wormy, boring, tingling, pins and needles, prickly, creeping, burning or twitching. Sudden muscle jerks may also accompany the symptoms. The sensations can build up gaining momentum until the leg jerks. Some patients have described it like a surge of electricity or like a jack-in-the-box that keeps winding and winding until it springs. The condition can occur while you are sitting, lying or sleeping. But the sensations appear to get worse while you are resting. Moving the affected legs only temporarily relieves the situation. In some cases, your arms may also be affected. RLS may be so bad that it while prevent you from falling asleep and thus affecting your over-all health. The disorder can be so disturbing and painful that one patient actually hit the offending leg with a baseball bat in a desperate attempt to reduce the sensations.
How common is RLS?
It is not known how common RLS is worldwide but researchers believe that up to 15 % of the people living in the United States suffer from some degree of RLS. Women are twice as likely as men to have the condition. RLS can begin at any age even as early as childhood but is more common in middle age or older. The symptoms can get worse over time and become disabling. The discomfort experienced by some in childhood was diagnosed as "growing pains." There also appears to be a connection between RLS and Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. Twenty-five percent of pregnant women may experience RLS in the last third of their term. Restless Legs has also been found to run in families. Research is being done to deter the gene or genes that might cause it. RLS is often found in people who have Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD).
Causes of RLS
There are two basic types of RLS. The type that is found to run in families is thought to be genetic and is called primary or familial RLS. If the RLS is the result of another condition, which makes it worse, then it is known as Secondary RLS. If there is no family history of the condition and no other causing RLS, then it is described as idiopathic.
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