No More Restless Leg Syndrome
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) has affected many for hundreds of years but only recently has RLS become a diagnosis. The disease was only identified approximately 20 years ago. RLS is quite real, and quite debilitating. RLS is a recognized medical condition, often under- and misdiagnosed, and can be quite distressing if it is severe. Restless leg syndrome plagues many people around the world, and occurs in both genders, although the incidence may be slightly higher in women. Fortunately there is a wealth of information available to those who suffer from this disorder. RLS is a chronic and slowly progressive disorder. Prevalence estimates vary widely, from 12 million to more than 30 million adults in the U.S. Secondary RLS occurs in conditions such as pregnancy, iron deficiency, diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, neuropathy, spinal disease, and Parkinson's disease. The people suffering from restless leg syndrome feel a very strange urge to move that is difficult to control. Restless leg syndrome is a common cause of painful legs and typically eases with motion of the legs and becomes more noticeable at rest.
Although the syndrome may begin at any age, even as early as infancy, most patients who are severely affected are middle-aged or older. RLS is a neurological disorder that makes it difficult to sit or lie still for long periods of time and often occurs in the evening and at night. RLS is a disorder that disturbs a person's sleep pattern causing the worsening of symptoms during the early evening or late at night. It is characteristic of RLS to lead to insomnia and other sleep disorders which leads to other problems for the patient.
RLS is treated with drugs similar to Parkinson's drugs -- drugs that function as dopamine agonists and due to the medications associated with it, with the prevalent side effects, other options are needed to better the present treatments used. Restless leg syndrome symptoms may be induced or exacerbated by medications such as antidepressants, lithium, and dopamine antagonists (neuroliptics, metoclopramide), H2 blockers. Caffeine also has been implicated in the worsening of restless leg syndrome symptoms. Certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, arthritis and varicose veins, also increase the risk of developing restless leg syndrome. It is the use of dopamines or opioid peptide production of serotonin that offers promise for the use of interferential treatments(IFT) for the prevention and dimunition of RLS symptoms.
Interferential treatments are known to increase the production of natural opioid peptides which provide extended carryover pain relief. The use of interferential also eases muscle spasticity and relaxes the leg muscles themselves which appears to diminish the frequency of occurrences of the symptoms of RLS. Fortunately rather than having to increase dosages of drugs which happens for many RLS sufferers the use of IFT diminishes over time so less is needed rather than more.
