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Book

Restless Legs Syndrome

Abeera Mansur  1 , Pablo R. Castillo  2 , Franklyn Rocha Cabrero  3 , Syed Rizwan A. Bokhari  4
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
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Book

Restless Legs Syndrome

Abeera Mansur et al.
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Excerpt

Restless legs syndrome (RLS), or Willis-Ekbom disease, is a common, chronic, multifactorial movement disorder of the limbs in which patients have an irresistible urge to move their legs. This is often associated with abnormal, non-painful sensations that start at rest and are improved by activity. There is a diurnal pattern of worsened symptoms at night. Sleep disturbance is associated with involuntary jerking movements of the legs during sleep, known as periodic leg movements of sleep. There are more than 3 million cases in the United States annually. RLS is underdiagnosed, and there is a significant delay in diagnosis. The disorder may start in childhood, but the diagnosis is often not made until the third decade of life. Symptoms are worse at rest and sleep. Today, the condition can be treated with medications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Abeera Mansur declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Pablo Castillo declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Franklyn Rocha Cabrero declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Syed Rizwan Bokhari declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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    1. Cesnik E, Casetta I, Turri M, Govoni V, Granieri E, Strambi LF, Manconi M. Transient RLS during pregnancy is a risk factor for the chronic idiopathic form. Neurology. 2010 Dec 07;75(23):2117-20. - PubMed
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