Anti-seizure drug boosts sleep, treats restless leg syndrome

A drug widely used to treat seizures and anxiety appears to be an effective treatment for restless legs syndrome (RLS) and helps people with the disorder get a better night’s sleep, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting.

The finding is significant, as RLS affects up to one in every 10 people and grows especially common with age.
 
The 12-week study involved 58 people with RLS. Of the group, 30 people received the drug pregabalin and the rest received a placebo. Sleep studies were performed at the beginning and end of the research.
 
Researchers found nearly two-thirds of the people who took pregabalin had no RLS symptoms while taking the drug. For people who still had symptoms, those symptoms had improved by 66%, while taking the drug, compared to the placebo group where symptoms worsened by 29%.
 
Sleep also improved for those taking pregabalin. The study showed the group spent more time in slow wave sleep, otherwise known as Stage three or deep sleep, and they spent less time in the lighter sleep stages known as Stage one or Stage two sleep compared to those taking a placebo.
 
“Since RLS symptoms get worse at night, it’s difficult for people with RLS to get adequate sleep,” said study author Dr Diego Garcia-Borreguero, director of the Sleep Research Institute in Madrid, Spain.

“However, our findings show pregabalin helped people get more deep sleep. The drug was well tolerated and is a promising alternative to current treatments because of its superior effects on quality of sleep”.
 
Pregabalin has been approved for the treatment of epilepsy, nerve pain, generalized anxiety and fibromyalgia. The scientists think that neuroglobin production also ramps up in reaction to the assault of Alzheimer’s disease.

They hypothesize that maybe in some people it’s simply not enough of a protective response to effectively defend the brain.
 
“The older we get, the less neuroglobin this particular gene produces in our brains – unless something stimulates the gene to produce more,” he explains.

“That something could be a stressor such as a lack of oxygen resulting from stoke or emphysema, for instance. And it looks like it also could be Alzheimer’s disease. Further work on this gene will likely provide intervention targets for a multitude of very common conditions including Alzheimer’s,” he concluded.