Restless legs ups heart disease, stroke risk

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with restless legs syndrome, or RLS, are twice as likely as those without RLS to suffer a stroke or heart disease, and the risk is greatest in those with the most frequent and severe symptoms, according to the results of a large study. RLS is a movement disorder that causes uncomfortable sensations in the legs that worsen when a person is inactive, such as during sleep. This is not the first study to link RLS with cardiovascular disease, the study team notes in the January 1st issue of the journal Neurology. However, the prior two studies that supported an association did not use current RLS diagnostic criteria and one of them included only men.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with restless legs syndrome, or RLS, are twice as likely as those without RLS to suffer a stroke or heart disease, and the risk is greatest in those with the most frequent and severe symptoms, according to the results of a large study. RLS is a movement disorder that causes uncomfortable sensations in the legs that worsen when a person is inactive, such as during sleep.

This is not the first study to link RLS with cardiovascular disease, the study team notes in the January 1st issue of the journal Neurology. However, the prior two studies that supported an association did not use current RLS diagnostic criteria and one of them included only men.

In the current study, "The association of RLS with heart disease and stroke was strongest in those people who had RLS symptoms at least 16 times per month," study chief Dr. John W. Winkelman, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a statement. "There was also an increased risk among people who said their RLS symptoms were severe compared to those with less bothersome symptoms."

The findings stem from an analysis of data for 1,559 men and 1,874 women enrolled in the Sleep Heart Health Study, a community-based study that looked at the impact of sleep-disordered breathing on cardiovascular outcomes. The average patient age was 67.9 years.

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Overall, 6.8 percent of women and 3.3 percent of men had RLS. Analyses showed that people with RLS had a greater than twofold higher risk of suffering cardiovascular disease or stroke. The results remained the same after adjusting for age, sex, race, body weight, diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood pressure medication, cholesterol levels, and smoking.

"RLS could increase cardiovascular risk by a number of potential mechanisms," the investigators note -- for example, by raising nighttime heart rate and blood pressure. Alternatively, cardiovascular disease could cause RLS.

Further studies are needed to better understand the association between RLS and cardiovascular disease, the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Neurology, January 1, 2008.