Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless legs syndrome, insomnia and brain chemistry: A tangled mystery solved?
Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge ...
Neuroscience
May 07, 2013 |
4.4 / 5 (5) |
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Losing sleep? Scientists evaluate why
The issue of sleep deprivation has gone beyond the counting of sheep and into the scientific domain, as European researchers set up 'sleep labs' to study the biomedical and sociological factors keeping us ...
Health
May 03, 2013 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Restless legs syndrome (RLS) or Willis-Ekbom disease is a neurological disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move one's body to stop uncomfortable or odd sensations. It most commonly affects the legs, but can affect the arms, torso, and even phantom limbs. Moving the affected body part modulates the sensations, providing temporary relief.
RLS sensations can most closely be compared to an itching or tickling in the muscles, like "an itch you can't scratch" or an unpleasant "tickle that won't stop." The sensations typically begin or intensify during quiet wakefulness, such as when relaxing, reading, studying, or trying to sleep. In addition, most individuals with RLS have limb jerking during sleep, which is an objective physiologic marker of the disorder and is associated with sleep disruption. Some controversy surrounds the marketing of drug treatments for RLS. It is a "spectrum" disease with some people experiencing only a minor annoyance and others experiencing major disruption of sleep and significant impairments in quality of life.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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