Restless Leg Syndrome Linked to Early Death in Males

A new study published in the journal Neurology suggests that men who suffer from restless leg syndrome (RLS), a condition where they feel the urge to move their legs when lying down, were 39 percent more likely to die early compared to men without any such condition. The study was conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School who followed more than 18,400 men with an average age of 67 years. All of the participants were free of diabetes and kidney failure and had been evaluated for RLS at the start of the study with around 690 men were found to suffer from the condition.

The researchers followed up on the participants after a period of eight years and found that in total around 2,765 of them had died of which 171 were from the group that had been diagnosed with RLS compared to 2,594 who did not have the condition. On analyzing the link, the researchers found that those with RLS had a 39 percent higher risk of early death compared to those without the condition.

“This study suggests that individuals with restless legs syndrome are more likely to die early than other people. This association was independent of other known risk factors. The increased mortality in RLS was more frequently associated with respiratory disease, endocrine disease, nutritional/metabolic disease and immunological disorders”, lead researcher Dr Xiang Gao said.

Source-Medindia