7
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Restless legs syndrome--relevant aspects for internal medicine specialists.

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPubMed
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Ekbom's syndrome, is a fairly common complaint which is not widely recognised by medical professionals, although it seems to affect 1-10% of the population. Despite recent attempts to better characterize RLS, this neurologic disorder remains poorly understood. Idiopathic RLS frequently follows an autosomal dominant inheritance with a variable clinical expressivity of symptoms. Secondary RLS is usually associated with neuropathy of chronic disorders (uremia, cryoglobulinemia, diabetes mellitus, infections, etc). RLS gives the sufferer an unpleasant sensation in the legs at rest, causing an irresistible desire to move which alleviates the discomfort. Other features that characterize RLS include sleep disturbance, involuntary movements in sleep or wakefulness, a normal neurologic examination, a chronic clinical course (waxing and waning over the time), and, in some cases, a positive family history. Periodic limb movements during sleep, which also may occur as an isolated finding, may or may not cause frequent arousals or awakenings. Clinical diagnosis of idiopathic or symptomatic forms of RLS can be supported with polysomnography. Full understanding of the features of RLS will provide the clinician with the strongest tool for recognizing the disorder. Many different treatments have been tried for RLS. Since the cause is unclear, therapy of RLS and PLMS remains symptomatic except for some secondary forms. Treatment of first choice consists of dopaminergic drugs or dopamine agonist, opioids and benzodiazepines.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Rom J Intern Med
          Romanian journal of internal medicine = Revue roumaine de medecine interne
          1220-4749
          1220-4749
          : 37
          : 3
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Immunology, "Iuliu Haţieganu" University of Medicine & Pharmacy, 3-5, Clinicilor Str., 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
          Article
          15532306
          31c4db1e-3e6a-4d58-aaa7-20f604747cda
          History

          Comments

          Comment on this article