People with restless legs syndrome also often suffer from depression, according to a recent Inserm study.
- Restless legs syndrome affects 8.5% of French people. About 2% of patients have symptoms several times a week.
- This chronic disorder, which has repercussions on mental health, appears in adulthood and affects women more often.
- On average, the disease is diagnosed ten years after the first symptoms, often confused with those of certain neurological or vascular pathologies.
Tingling, tingling, tightness, “electric shock”… These signs occur in people suffering from restless legs syndrome (RLS). This chronic disorder is characterized by these unpleasant sensations, called “impatience”, but also the irrepressible need to move the lower limbs. These symptoms occur at rest, most often when lying down, in the evening or at night. To relieve themselves, patients are forced to regularly move their legs. Result: the condition affects the quality of patients’ sleep and, by extension, their quality of life.
“An increased risk of having suicidal thoughts”
According to an Inserm study published on February 14, restless legs syndrome also has an impact on the mental health of sufferers. “Some surveys and clinical studies suggest that people with RLS are at increased risk of experiencing depressive symptoms or having suicidal thoughts, especially those with insomnia”, said Yves Dauvilliers, a neurologist at the Montpellier Neuroscience Institute, in the Inserm publication. counteracts these psychological consequences. This is why Yves Dauvilliers decided to carry out work on the subject with the team of the National Narcolepsy Hypersomnia Reference Center.
For the purposes of the study, the researchers recruited 529 adults with restless legs syndrome who did not receive any psychological support. They completed a questionnaire to assess the existence of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts. The patients’ responses were compared with those of people of the same age and sex who do not suffer from this chronic disorder. According to the results, among the patients affected by RLS, 79% suffered from insomnia, 32.5% presented depressive symptoms and 28% had suicidal thoughts, compared to 8.3%, 5.5% and 9.5% respectively. % of adults not affected by this sensorimotor syndrome.
An effective psychological follow-up
Scientists found that sleep disturbances and depressive symptoms had markedly decreased one year after psychological care with treatment tailored to each patient. “This result is important because it proves that the appropriate management of RLS can reduce sensorimotor symptoms, but also those related to mental health”, explained Yves Dauvilliers.
On the other hand, the frequency of suicidal thoughts hardly changed. “Be careful, we are talking about suicidal ideas and not suicidal behavior. In practice, our clinical experience and the literature show that acting out remains rare and certainly multifactorial. However, doctors must be made aware of this risk so that ‘they are vigilant about the mental health of their patients with RLS’underlined the neurologist.
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