Home » Common Sleep Disorders » Restless Legs Syndrome Sleep is regulated by an internal ‘clock’, which is tuned by the day–night cycles named as "circadian rhythm". When the sun sets, your brain starts to release ‘sleepy’ chemicals, until eventually you feel the need to retire for the night. In the morning, exposure to daylight prompts your brain to release ‘awake’ chemicals.

Sleep is not a static state of consciousness. We all go through various distinct stages of sleep, over and over, every night. Generally, the brain moves from light sleep to deeper sleep and eventually to rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep. REM sleep occurs regularly, about once every 90 to 120 minutes.

Brain waves in REM sleep are faster than in non-REM sleep. REM sleep is associated with dreaming and with stimulation of the parts of the brain used for learning, while body repair and growth tends to happen during non-REM sleep. It is important to get the right mix of both REM and non-REM sleep to maintain your natural sleep cycle and help you wake rested and refreshed.

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is one of the common sleep disorders that cause tingling, pulling, creeping, or painful sensations in the legs at night. This sensation is brought on a lying down in bed, sits for prolonged periods such as while driving or at a theater. RLS typically occurs in the evening, making it difficult to fall asleep. Often, people with RLS want to walk around and shake their legs to help relieve the uncomfortable sensation.

Restless Legs Syndrome can affect both males and females, can begin at any age and may worsen as you get older. The result is Restless legs syndrome is Sleep Disorders ,leading to daytime drowsiness and make traveling difficult.

A number of simple self-care steps and lifestyle changes may benefit you. Medications also help many people with restless legs syndrome. People with Restless Legs Syndrome use words such as creeping, crawling, tingling, or burning to describe these feelings. The unpleasant feelings may also occur in the arms.

Effects of Restless Legs Syndrome

• Concentrate, making it harder to learn and remember things
• Work
• Carry out other usual daily activities
• Take part in family and social activities
• Not getting enough sleep can also make you feel depressed or have mood swings.

Restless Legs Syndrome can range from mild to severe. You need to check this out to find out the severeness of the condition like :

• How much discomfort you have in your legs and arms
• Whether you feel the need to move around
• How much relief you get from moving around
• How much sleep disturbance you have
• How tired or sleepy you are during the day
• How often you have symptoms
• How severe your symptoms are on most days
• How well you carry out daily activities
• How angry, depressed, sad, anxious, or irritable you feel

Types of Restless Legs Syndrome:
There are two of Restless Legs Syndrome, these are

• Primary RLS is the most common type of RLS. It is also called idiopathic RLS. At the Primary level means the cause is not known. If Primary RLS, once starts it usually becomes a lifelong condition. Over time, symptoms tend to get worse and occur more often, especially if they began in childhood or early in adult life. In milder cases, there may be long periods of time with no symptoms, or symptoms may last only for a limited time.
  
  
• Secondary RLS is RLS that is caused by another disease or condition or, sometimes, from taking certain medicines. Symptoms usually go away when the disease or condition improves, or if the medicine is stopped.

Most people with Restless leg Syndrome can also have a condition called periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD). PLMD is a condition in which a person’s legs twitch or jerk uncontrollably about every 10 to 60 seconds. This usually happens during sleep. RLS can unpleasant and uncomfortable. However, there are some simple self-care approaches and lifestyle changes that can help in mild cases. Restless leg Syndrome symptoms often improve with medical treatment. Several Research are being carried out to better understand the causes of RLS and to develop better treatments.

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