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People with restless legs syndrome(1) (RLS) are twice as likely to have(2) a stroke(3) or heart disease(4) compared to people without RLS, and the risk is greatest in those with the most frequent(5) and severe(6) symptoms(7), according to research published in the January 1, 2008, issue(8) of Neurology(9)®, the medical journal of the American Academy(10) of Neurology.

The study, the largest of its kind enrolling(11) both men and women, involved(12) 3,433 people with an average age of 68 who were enrolled in the Sleep Heart Health Study. Participants(13) were diagnosed with(14) RLS by detailed(15) questionnaire(16) and asked if they had been diagnosed with a variety of(17) systemic diseases(18) including cardiovascular disease(19) and cerebrovascular disease(20). Of the participants, nearly seven percent of women and three percent of men had RLS.

The study found people with RLS were more than twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease. The results remained the same after adjusting for(21) age, sex, race, body mass index(22), diabetes(23), high blood pressure(24), high blood pressure medication(25), HDL/LDL cholesterol levels(26), and smoking.

"The association(27) 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 John W. Winkelman, MD(28), PhD(29), with 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(30) symptoms."

Winkelman says although this study does not show that RLS causes cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, a number of potential(31) mechanics(32) for such a process exist.