Occurrence of ADHD with Restless Legs Syndrome

RLS:

Restless legs syndrome is a condition in which you feel sensations of discomfort in legs when you are sleeping or taking rest.

RLS also may result from other conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, neuropathy, anemia and even nervous system trauma. The discomfort is relieved by moving the legs.

The symptoms include an uncomfortable feeling in the legs and an irresistible urge to move the legs while at rest.

These symptoms which are difficult to describe occur more often in the evening or night and may be relieved by moving, massaging or rubbing the legs.

When you wake up during night due to restless legs syndrome, your bed partner recognizes the symptom. Restless legs syndrome affects adolescents, elderly people, and children and is more common in women.

If you are suffering from RLS symptoms, you may have difficulty in falling asleep as you may have unpleasant feelings in the legs which disrupts sleep

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hypertension, depression, excessive daytime sleepiness, and substance abuse have all been associated with RLS and may be the result of untreated RLS.

ADHD:

ADHD is a genetic, biochemical disorder characterized by inattentiveness, restlessness, distractibility and impulsivity. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a group of chronic disorders that begin in childhood and sometimes last into adult life.

Symptoms and characteristics of ADHD include hyperactivity, poor concentration, a childhood history of ADHD, impulsivity, inability to complete tasks, hot temper, inability to deal with stress and mood swings.

These symptoms can affect nearly every aspect of your life. Children and adults with ADHD often struggle with low self-esteem, troubled personal relationships and poor performance in school or at work.

Children with ADHD are much more likely to have RLS, at a rate of up to 40% in some studies. Research indicates that alterations in dopamine systems in the central nervous system are the main cause for RLS, and these systems are implicated in the expression of ADHD.

Treatment studies of children with RLS and ADHD have illustrated a clear link between these disorders since dopamine therapy not only results in resolution of RLS symptoms, but also in the symptoms of ADHD.

RLS and ADHD:

Adults who have restless legs syndrome are more likely to also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than adults who don’t have the sleep disorder, according to research presented during the American Academy of Neurology’s 53rd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

For the study, researchers at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center in Edison tested 56 adults with restless legs syndrome for ADHD symptoms and compared them to 77 people who did not have RLS.

Thirty-nine percent of the patients met the criteria for “possible” ADHD, compared to 14 percent of controls. Of those, 21 percent of the patients met the criteria for “highly probable” ADHD, compared to four percent of controls.

Twenty-one of the 33 patients and controls with possible ADHD underwent additional, objective psychological testing. Of those, 100 percent of the patients had a profile consistent with that of ADHD, as did 86 percent of the controls. RLS patients with ADHD also had greater anxiety symptoms than controls with ADHD.

Those patients who had both restless legs and ADHD also had more severe RLS symptoms than the RLS patients without ADHD.

“The leg discomfort from RLS could cause people to be more hyperactive and distractible,” said study author Mary L. Wagner. With the disruption in the sleep, you may be tired and become inattentive. But it’s not proven that having RLS leads to having ADHD.

Both disorders may be caused by lack of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is responsible for transmitting signals within the brain. A lack of dopamine can leave patients unable to control their movements normally.

Evidence for this theory is that both disorders respond well to drugs that promote dopamine action in the brain.

The risk of RLS or ADHD is greater in people with a family history of the disorder. “A patient with ADHD or his or her family may be more likely to also have RLS, but more study is needed on this,” Wagner said.

“People with RLS should also be tested for ADHD, and vice versa,” Wagner said. “That way these disorders can be diagnosed and treated more efficiently.”