Restless legs syndrome doubles risk of stroke, heart disease

Older people with restless legs syndrome (RLS) – a common neurological condition affecting up to 10% of the US population – are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart disease compared to people without the condition, and the risk is greatest in those with the most frequent and severe symptoms, according to research published in the medical journal Neurology.

The study, the largest of its kind enrolling both men and women, involved 3,433 people with an average age of 68 who were enrolled in the Sleep Heart Health Study.

The study found people with RLS were more than twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease.

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

Winkelman says although this study does not show that RLS causes cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, a number of potential mechanics for such a process exist.

“In particular, most people with RLS have as many as 200 to 300 periodic leg movements per night of sleep and these leg movements are associated with substantial acute increases in both blood pressure and heart rate, which may, over the long term, produce cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease.