Caucasian women most likely to have restless leg syndrome

In a new study, 2 out of 5 Caucasian women were found to have restless leg syndrome, a disorder that causes unpleasant feelings in the legs and disrupts sleep. Researchers from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, studied 190 patients – 103 of whom were African-American – and found that non-African-Americans experienced RLS four times more often than black patients and that white women had the highest incidence among all groups. Twenty-three percent of people overall were affected by the disease. From a Reuters piece:

“This is the first study to show such a striking difference in RLS prevalence across racial groups,” Alkhazna told Reuters Health. “This likely reflects a combination of factors, including a genetic predisposition to RLS, diet – including iron intake – medications, and possibly culture.”

The work follows a Stanford study showing that 30 percent of the population may have the disorder.

Via Clinical Cases and Images