restless sleep
RLS is a disorder that also lacks widespread awareness and acceptance. For some, even in medicine, there's a bent to dismiss this as an “underlying” condition. “For those with moderate to severe restless legs syndrome, it's not just a curiosity or a minor annoyance—it can ruin their life,” says Dr. Winkelman.
The most important symptom of RLS is an irresistible urge to maneuver the legs, often accompanied by an uncomfortable “creepy crawly” feeling. It affects about 2% of adults and is twice as common in women as in men. Symptoms often flare up when people sit up in bed, but they may occur after they are resting in a chair or sitting at a table. Most individuals with RLS also experience frequent leg movements during sleep.
How can such an issue be related to heart disease? Movement of the legs at night restores the cardiovascular system, causing a frequent increase in blood pressure. In addition, overstimulation and general lack of sleep take their toll the subsequent day with fatigue, confused considering, reduced work productivity, and depression.
Previous studies have shown that individuals with RLS have poor sleep quality. And since poor sleep quality has been linked to heart disease, this will likely be one reason for the association between RLS and heart disease observed within the study,” says Dr. Gao.
She and her colleagues examined the health records of greater than 70,000 women who participated within the Nurses' Health Study, establishing the link between RLS and heart problems, the world's largest, longest-running study of girls's health. . Over a six-year period, about one in 60 women diagnosed with RLS developed heart disease, compared with one in 100 women without RLS. After adjusting for other influences, the researchers determined that ladies with RLS had a 50 percent higher risk of heart disease than women without RLS. This link was strongest for girls who had experienced RLS symptoms for at the very least three years.
what are you able to do?
If you experience an uncomfortable urge to maneuver while at rest, whether throughout the day or at night, refer to a physician.
If you have got RLS, treatment includes a mixture of lifestyle and behavioral changes to assist keep symptoms at bay, reminiscent of being physically and mentally energetic when symptoms are most certainly to occur. . Dr. Winkleman says that for improving sleep, there are 4 FDA-approved medications which can be remarkably effective.
Women with RLS might also want to think about keeping a detailed eye on their heart health and doing what they will to scale back their cardiovascular risk. Should men with RLS do the identical? Probably. The same study is underway to see if there's a link between RLS and heart disease in men, but it surely never hurts to enhance your cardiovascular health.