| Restless Legs Syndrome Can Be A Pain In The Leg |
|
|
| Thursday, 22 November 2007 | |
|
Restless legs syndrome is an unpleasant disorder that affects up to 10% of South Africans. Many people do not know that the uncomfortable sensation they get in their legs just before going to sleep is not due to too much or too little exercise but actually a neurological disorder. Despite the fact that medicine has known about this disorder since 1945 and the association with iron deficiency is becoming clearer there is very little research on the sensations themselves. "Where do they come from?" and "How can we describe them?" are questions that were targeted by researchers from the Wits Dial.a.Bed Sleep laboratory. New data, recently published by them, indicate that the sensations are actually related to pain and can be measured with questionnaires usually used for measuring pain. Dr Alison Bentley, the lead researcher in the project, says "As up to 80% of patients may experience occasional pain as part of their restless legs sensation, this finding should not have come as a big surprise and may explain why some people get great relief with pain killers. Knowing that the sensation has some relationship to pain helps us in defining the origin of the disorder as well as widening our treatment options". Painkillers, however, cannot be used for the long term treatment of this disorder and dopamine supplements have been found to be very successful in giving patients with this disorder some well-needed rest. Research is ongoing in the quest for the origin of the disorder including the origin of the involuntary leg movements associated with restless legs which usually occur during sleep. Source: Ends /sss |
This is the powerful story of the author's struggle with Multiple Sclerosis and how a healer's unusual prescription of mindful altruism - to 'give away 29 gifts in 29 days' - ignited her energy, her happiness, and invited more abundance into her life.
