Ralph Downey III, PhD
≈ΩΩ, is chief, Sleep Medicine, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and associate professor of medicine, pediatrics and neurology, Loma Linda University.
For the 12 million Americans suffering from the curious phenomenon known as Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) there is lots of hope, but also cause for concern, thanks to a recent study that found a disturbing association between RLS and heart disease, putting it into the category of health problems that you shouldn’t “just live with.” Fortunately, there are natural ways to target RLS. I spoke with sleep expert Ralph Downey III, PhD, chief of sleep medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California, to learn about the new developments relating to RLS.
Besides the array of “annoying” symptoms of RLS, research increasingly indicates that RLS-related problems can be quite severe. The results of a recent Harvard Medical School study were reported in the January 1, 2008, issue of Neurology, and showed that people with RLS were more than twice as likely to have coronary artery disease (disease of the arteries of the heart) or cardiovascular disease (diseases of the heart and blood vessels, including those in the brain) as the general population. One possible reason is that hundreds of periodic leg movements per night result in simultaneous jumps in blood pressure and heart rate. Over time, this may be responsible for the higher likelihood of heart attacks and strokes — and the more severe the symptoms, the higher the risk.
In Dr. Downey’s opinion, RLS has been a notoriously under-diagnosed disease. Some people may be slow to consult their health care providers, fearing their symptoms would not be taken seriously. He says that even now physicians (and the public at large) still have much to learn about RLS. (To read more about this disorder and ongoing investigations into its treatment, visit the Web site of The Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation at http://www.rls.org.) However, Dr. Downey emphasizes that treatment should be limited to people who meet specified diagnostic criteria, and says patients with mild symptoms often can control them with natural treatments and lifestyle change. Treatment strategies include…