Restless Legs Syndrome and Related Disorders - Complications

Complications

RLS rarely results in any serious consequences. However, in some cases severe and recurrent symptoms can cause considerable mental distress, sleep deprivation, and daytime sleepiness. In addition, RLS is worse when resting, people with severe RLS may avoid daily activities that involve long periods of sitting, such as going to movies or traveling long distances.

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation, and the daytime sleepiness that follows, is increasingly recognized as a cause of mood disruption and a contributor to industrial errors and motor vehicle crashes.

Effect on Daily Performance and Activities. Studies suggest that sleeplessness worsens many waking behaviors. These include:

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• Concentration. Deep sleep deprivation appears to impair the brain's ability to process information.
• Task performance. Missing several hours of nightly sleep over the course of a week can negatively affect performance levels and mood. In fact, sleep deprivation can cause impaired performance levels comparable to those of intoxicated people.
• Learning. Whether sleeplessness significantly impairs learning is unclear. Some studies have reported problems in memorization, although others have found no differences in test scores between people with temporary sleep loss and those with regular sleep cycles.

Psychiatric Effects

People with restless legs syndrome are more apt to be socially isolated, to have frequent daytime headaches or depression, and to complain of reduced libido or other problems related to insufficient sleep.

RLS can contribute to insomnia. Insomnia itself can increase the activity of hormones and pathways in the brain that produce emotional problems. Even modest alterations in waking and sleeping patterns can have significant effects on a person's mood. Persistent insomnia may even predict the future development of mood disorders in some cases.

It is not clear if RLS is responsible for negative mood states or if anxiety or depression contributes to RLS. Anxiety can cause agitation and leg restlessness that resemble RLS, and depression and RLS symptoms also overlap. In addition, certain types of antidepressant drugs -- such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors -- can increase periodic limb movements during sleep.

Review Date: 10/15/2010
Reviewed By: Reviewed by: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).