Men who have restless legs syndrome are predisposed to dying sooner rather than later, reported Med Page Today.
Men who had restless legs were 39 percent more likely to die over the next eight years, according to the study in the journal Neurology. The study took age into account, and excluded men with other chronic health conditions.
Restless legs syndrome affects from five to 10 percent of adults, it's characterized by the ongoing need to move one's legs, especially when trying to fall asleep.
The study followed 18,425 men who did not have other health issues, such as diabetes and renal failure, from 2000 to 2010. The men ranged in age from 40 to 70.
Close to four percent of the subjects suffered from restless legs syndrome. Over the course of eight years, 15 percent of the afflicted men died, the average age of death was 67. The results were more drastic in men who experienced the symptoms at least 15 times a month.
The association was weakened when lifestyle, body mass, and age were taken into account. The correlation grew stronger when men with major health concerns such as cancer were factored in.
Most of the men who's death was correlated with the restless legs syndrome passed away from "respiratory disease, endocrine, nutritional, and immunity disorders and diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs." They rarely died from cancer or cardiovascular problems.
The finding suggested the widely under-recognized condition should be taken more seriously, and there should be further clinical studies on the subject.
"Increasing awareness of restless legs syndrome, especially [in] training for health professions, should be encouraged if our findings are confirmed by future studies," the researchers wrote in the study.
Daniel Labovitz, MD, of Montefiore Medical Center in New York City wondered if the findings were true, because the results of the study were so dramatic.
"It's difficult in a [study of this size] to find a previously unidentified risk for death that carries a risk of 40 percent greater than people without the disease," he said. "That's the kind of extra risk we see from known causes of death like high blood pressure and diabetes. It's a big deal."
Labovitz also pointed out that there could be another cause for the results.
The researchers said there are other factors the correlation could have been caused by, "disturbed sleep, negative effects on blood pressure, or an underlying neurodegenerative disorder that manifests as restless legs syndrome." Further studies would need to be conducted in order to pinpoint the actual cause.
Other limitations on the study include, low variety in subjects (they were mostly healthy white men), lack of knowledge on the long term effects of medication used to treat the problem, and not taking iron deficiencies into account.
