Restless leg syndrome ( RLS ), or Willis-Ekborm disease , is a neurological condition characterized by a sense of discomfort / urge to move one ’ s leg prior to resting or falling asleep in the evening .
The discomfort of RLS is alleviated by moving the limb . Often , patients who suffer from RLS complain of a range of abnormal sensations in the limb , describing the feeling as “ creepy-crawly ,” “ ants crawling ,” “ jittery ,” “ burning ,” “ pain ,” or “ shock-like .” The exact neurological mechanism for RLS is unknown . In fact , patients can have the disease as a primary condition but the syndrome can be caused by a variety of physiological or pathological conditions that range from pregnancy and low iron levels , to kidney diseases , spinal cord diseases , or even Parkinson ’ s disease .
The diagnosis of restless leg syndrome is made clinically . In 2012 , the International Restless Leg Syndrome Study Group established a set of criteria to help clinicians confirm the diagnosis .
Numerous studies have shown a connection between migraine headaches and restless leg syndrome . In a 2010 Taiwanese study of 772 migraineurs , 11.4 % experienced RLS . In a study of 31,370 women in Germany , 24,513 subjects denied any migraine attacks and of those women , 2,749 had RLS . This compared to 6,857 women who reported migraine , and of those subjects , 996 complained of RLS . These researchers concluded that migraine is associated with an increase likelihood of having RLS .
A similar relationship has been demonstrated in men and children in studies lead by Harvard University and University of Vienna . Interestingly , migraine is not the only headache that is associated with RLS . A study of 77,520 patients in Taiwan , with and without tension-type headache , suggests that there is an increased risk for RLS in tension-type headache patients as well .
Age appears to play a role . In a population-based study of 2695 Koreans , patients with migraine in their 20s and 40s tend to have a higher risk of RLS than patients older than 49 . The caveat though , is that this data did not capture the likelihood of secondary causes for RLS in older populations because of the population ’ s comorbidities ( other illnesses ) and / or concurrent medication use .
It is an open question whether the characteristics of one ’ s migraine attack influences the risk for getting RLS . The data are mixed when it comes to whether migraine with aura confers a higher risk of RLS . In a Turkish study involving 204 patients , migraine with aura confers higher risk for having RLS . In a study done in Madrid with 94 patients , however , migraine without aura seems to have a higher correlation . Regardless , the frequency of headaches does not seem to correlate with whether one is at risk for RLS . Patients who have less than 15 days of headaches or those who have more are both at risk . In contrast , those who are ex-migraineurs do not seem to be at higher risk for RLS .
www . headaches . org | National Headache Foundation 21
170767 _ LOT A _ NHF Feb 2017 Vol . 6 Issue 3 . indd 21 2 / 15 / 17 12:48 AM