Does anyone know of anything that works for Restless Leg Syndrome?
Dan
**
Had this in my files.
Sharon
_
Sleep [2005] 28 (9) : 1069-1075
(Earley CJ, Connor JR, Beard JL, Clardy SL, Allen RP.)
Ferritin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and restless legs syndrome: effects
of different clinical phenotypes.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patients with restless legs syndrome
(RLS) and controls differ in regard to levels of ferritin and transferrin in
the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) when samples are collected at night, to determine
whether patients with early-onset and late-onset RLS show a different outcome
for CSF values, and to determine whether the CSF ferritin level correlates with
disease severity.
DESIGN: Collection of CSF and plasma; assessment of disease severity using
objective (periodic limb movements) and subjective (Johns Hopkins Restless Legs
Severity Scale) measures of severity.
SETTING: General Clinical Research Center.
PARTICIPANTS: Thirty subjects with idiopathic RLS (15 early- and 15 late-onset
RLS) and 22 age- and sex-matched controls.
INTERVENTION: N/A.
RESULTS: Nighttime CSF ferritin levels were lower in the total RLS group
compared with controls. Further assessment found that the early-onset (less
than 45 years of age) but not the late-onset (greater than or equal to 45 years
of age) RLS group had significantly lower CSF ferritin levels compared with
controls. There was a strong correlation between the age of symptom onset and
CSF ferritin values (r = 0.64): the earlier the age, the lower the ferritin
level. A regression analysis showed that both sex and RLS subtype had
significant effects on the CSF ferritin level, with women with early-onset RLS
having substantial lower values than men with late-onset RLS. A comparison
between these nighttime CSF values and previously published daytime samples
suggests that diurnal changes may have effects on the findings.
CONCLUSIONS: This study is distinct in showing that the degree of the
CSF-ferritin effect is best defined by the clinical phenotypes of sex and age
of symptom onset and by the time of day that samples are collected.
Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 10:56 pmPost subject: Ferritin levels are
decreased in RLS
The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine [2006] 147 (2) : 67-73
(Clardy SL, Earley CJ, Allen RP, Beard JL, Connor JR.)
Ferritin subunits in CSF are decreased in restless legs syndrome.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder that may be related to
iron misregulation at the level of the central nervous system. Evidence that
iron is involved in RLS comes from magnetic resonance imaging data, autopsy
studies, analyses of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and correlations of symptoms
with serum ferritin.
Methods : To further examine the possibility that brain iron status is
insufficient in RLS, we determined ferritin levels in the CSF. Specifically, we
differentiated between the H- and L-subunits of ferritin, because these
peptides are expressed from different chromosomes and have different functions.
We measured H- and L-ferritin subunit levels in control and RLS human CSF using
immunoblot analysis and found that both H- and L-ferritin are significantly
decreased in early but not late-onset RLS. Additionally, we quantified total
protein in each CSF sample to establish that the decrease in ferritin subunits
in RLS did not reflect a decrease in total protein in CSF. Furthermore, we used
equal amounts of total CSF protein in the immunoblot analyses, in contrast to
previously published studies that provided only volumetric data, to determine
which approach was more accurate for quantifying the amount of ferritin
relative to other proteins in CSF.
Results : Our results establish a protein standard in RLS, provide a
comparative analysis of protein-controlled versus volumetric immunoblot
techniques, and argue for a profound loss of iron storage capacity in the brain
in RLS, specifically in the early onset RLS phenotype.
Conclusions : These data suggest that CSF ferritin levels may provide a
biomarker for assisting in the diagnosis of RLS.
Neurology [2005] 64: 1920-1924
(Högl B et al)
Study supports iron deficiency theory in restless legs syndrome
Austrian and Italian researchers find a high prevalence and under-recognition
of restless legs syndrome in the general community.
In white adults in Europe and the USA, very similar prevalence rates of
restless legs syndrome (RLS) of about 10 per cent have been reported. The
distribution of disease severity in the general population has not been
investigated systematically. Although the negative impact of RLS on quality of
life is beyond doubt, very few patients receive drug treatment. Decreased iron