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 con-
firm 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 re-
ported migraine, and of those subjects, 996 complained of
RLS. These researchers concluded that migraine is associ-
ated 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 cap-
ture 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.
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