Restless Legs Syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment PDF

Preface

In 1996, I wrote my first paper as a movement disorder fellow. It was basically a clinical description of 54 restless legs syndrome patients with an emphasis on neuropathy. At the poster, I was approached by ArtWalters, the leader of the fledgling International Restless Legs Study Group. Apparently, I was now a restless legs syndrome expert! I continued restless legs syndrome research in between the Parkinson's disease and dystonia cases that constituted the bulk of my clinic.

Ten years later, here I am editing a book on restless legs syndrome that contains thousands of references, almost all of which are more interesting and meaningful than my original paper. Most book prefaces discuss the rapid advances in their topic and the need for a current review, which constitutes the subsequent pages. However, few, if any, medical topics have evolved more rapidly than restless legs syndrome. Although restless legs syndrome was described centuries ago, most of the meaningful research concerning restless legs syndrome phenotype, epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment has occurred within the past decade. All objective measures of research interest, such as citation index numbers and governmental research funding, have increased dramatically during this period.

This book summarizes our current understanding of restless legs syndrome. The chapters cover all of the latest relevant restless legs syndrome science and pertinent related topics. The book is structured so that readers with focused interests can easily view specific sections and chapters. The book should be equally germane for the basic science researcher in restless legs syndrome, the clinical restless legs syndrome researcher, and the medical practitioner.

The book begins with a basic science section reviewing related background topics, such as sleep, circadian control, dopamine systems, and iron metabolism, and restless legs syndrome–specific chapters, including pathology, physiology, modeling, and genetics. Section II summarizes related clinical aspects, such as sleep deprivation and periodic limb movements; it includes restless legs syndrome–specific chapters on diagnosis and disease descriptions, epidemiology, and pediatric restless legs syndrome. Additional perspective is provided with a historic summary of restless legs syndrome and patient stories supplied by the director of the RLS Foundation, a patient organization. Section III consists of seven chapters that discuss individual diseases associated with restless legs syndrome. These include systemic iron deficiency, uremia, pregnancy, neuropathy, and Parkinson's disease.

Section IV concentrates on the rapidly expanding therapeutic options. After an overview, individual chapters focus on dopaminergics, opioids, iron, and other treatment-specific issues. Finally a ‘‘Future Directions'' chapter summarizes where we are and where we are heading.