Restless Legs Syndrome caused by increased brain activity?

1. In a very recent study into the possible causes of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and why RLS is often associated with poor sleep or even insomnia, the researchers have identified a cause that approaches RLS from a whole new angle.

1. Instead of focusing on why those legs do not want to be calm, it was investigated whether the restless legs and the accompanying insomnia do not have a common cause, instead of assuming that the bad night's sleep is a result of Restless Legs Syndrome.

2. Instead of focusing on why those legs don't want to be calm, it was investigated whether the restless legs and the accompanying insomnia do not have a common cause, instead of assuming that the bad night's sleep is a result of Restless Legs Syndrome.

1. Below the content of the article 1: How do you recognize RLS? I 2: RLS and a disturbed night's sleep 3: RLS caused due to dopamine deficiencies? 4: New insights 5: Glutamate increases your brain activity 6: Possible new treatment methods 7: Conclusion

2. Below the content of the article 1: How do you recognize RLS? I 2: RLS and disturbed sleep 3: RLS caused due to dopamine deficiencies? 4: New insights 5: Glutamate increases your brain activity 6: Possible new treatment methods 7: Conclusion

How do you recognize RLS?

1. If you have tingling in your legs, you may be suffering from Restless Legs Syndrome. Restless Legs Syndrome distinguishes itself from other nervous disorders such as tingling in the hands and feet as a result of type 2 diabetes, for example

1. Although the symptoms of different nervous disorders are very similar, you can clearly distinguish Restless Legs Syndrome from other conditions because RLS is mainly expressed:

2. Although the symptoms of different nervous disorders are very similar, you can clearly distinguish Restless Legs Syndrome from other conditions because RLS mainly manifests itself:

RLS and a disturbed night's sleep

1. The reason to start this study is the fact that even if the urge to move the legs is suppressed with medication, people with Restless Legs still suffer from a seriously disturbed night's sleep.

1. The reasoning that the insomnia is caused by constantly having to move your legs or that the tingling is preventing you from falling asleep then does not apply. After all, the urge to move is treated with medication, so there must be some other cause that would explain the sleepless nights.

2. The reasoning that the insomnia is caused by constantly moving your legs or that the tingling is preventing you from falling asleep then does not apply. After all, the urge to move is treated with medication, so there must be some other cause that would explain the sleepless nights.

1. The starting point of the study is therefore that Restless Legs and Insomnia are both a symptom of one and the same cause.

RLS caused due to dopamine deficiencies?

1. It has long been thought that RLS is caused by a problem in the brain. In short, your brain functions because brain cells send signals to each other. One cell sends a signal, the other cell receives this signal through a receptor.

1. But in order to send this signal successfully, that signal must meet certain conditions because the receptors cannot process all signals.

1. Compare it with a radio, a radio is only able to receive signals of certain frequencies.

1. Therefore the signal is sent by means of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the substances that enable the cells in your body and your brain to communicate with each other. There are many types of neurotransmitters, the best known are:

1. Until now, it was believed in the medical world that a problem with the neurotransmitter dopamine would probably cause the problems with RLS. Partly because a problem with dopamine is also the cause of Parkinson's disease.

2. In the medical world it has been assumed until now that a problem with the neurotransmitter dopamine would probably cause the problems with RLS. Partly because a problem with dopamine is also the cause of Parkinson's disease.

1. In itself this sounds logical, both diseases show more or less the same syndromes, namely the uncontrollable vibrating or moving of body parts. That's why medications are prescribed for both Parkinson's disease and Restless Legs Syndrome that increase the amount of dopamine in your brain.

1. But this traditional way of treating Restless Legs Syndrome does not improve sleep. So just increasing dopamine will only half solve the problem. So something else is going on that causes those sleep problems.

1. Another limitation of the traditional method of treatment is that the body builds up resistance to the medication. This means that for the same effect, namely an increase in your dopamine level, you need more and more medication. In the long term, you reach a maximum in the amount of drugs you can take.

2. Another limitation of the traditional method of treatment is that the body builds up resistance to the medication. This means that for the same effect, namely an increase in your dopamine level, you need more and more medication. In the long term, you will reach a maximum in the amount of medicines you can take.

1. If you exceed that maximum, the complaints of RLS will become even worse than they were before you started the medication.

2. If you exceed that maximum, the symptoms of RLS will become even worse than they were before you started on the medication.

1. The same goes for the medication that people with RLS should take to get a somewhat decent night's sleep. Often these are strongly sedative drugs such as benzodiazepines, which are known to be really only intended to treat short-term sleep problems. The body gets used to the drugs in no time and then you need a double dose to achieve the same sedative effect.

New insights: RLS possibly caused by dopamine deficiencies and glutamate surpluses?

1. As mentioned, people suffering from RLS are indeed deficient in dopamine. But only remedying the dopamine deficiency only solves part of the complaints. So there's more to it than just low dopamine.

1. Insomnia, RLS, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease all share common ground, which is that these diseases originate from a fault in the transmission of signals, the neurostransmitters.

1. That is why further research has been done in that direction, mainly looking at possible abnormalities in the field of neurotransmitters. And guess what? MRI scans of people with RLS show strikingly high levels of glutamate, a very important neurotransmitter that regulates your alertness, the level of consciousness and also your sleep.

1. Other things that are influenced by glutamate, among other things, are your memory and your ability to learn new things.

1. Subsequently, it was examined whether there was a relationship between the amount of sleep in people with RLS and the amount of glutamate. This follow-up study showed that the higher the amount of glutamate, the less the test subject slept.

1. So the disturbed sleep in combination with RLS and the large amounts of glutamate have something to do with each other. In the control group with people without RLS, it appeared that there was no relationship between the amounts of glutamate in their brains and the number of hours of sleep.

1. These research results seem to confirm that in people with Restless Legs Syndrome there is an increased release of glutamate, which in addition to the restless legs also causes a disturbance in sleep.

Glutamate increases your brain activity

1. The greater amount of glutamate causes the brain activity to increase, so the brain of someone with Restless Legs Syndrome is in an extremely high phase of consciousness both during the day and at night. And this is precisely why people with RLS cannot sleep. Especially at night, people with RLS also notice this increased brain activity. During the day this is less noticeable because you are active anyway.

1. With normal brain function you have 3 phases of alertness or consciousness:

Possible new treatment methods

1. Medicines to lower the amount of glutamate in your body have been used for much longer in the treatment of epilepsy. Medication to treat RLS is already available in the form of gabapentin. However, there are not enough scientific studies on this new treatment method, which means that RLS is currently still treated with drugs that increase the amount of dopamine.

Conclusion

1. These new research results offer good prospects for people suffering from insomnia and RLS. Because no new drug needs to be invented and because an explanation has now finally been found for the sleep problems in RLS patients, there is a good chance that there will be more options to treat RLS in the near future, it is expected that a combination of dopamine enhancers and glutamate-lowering agents, both insomnia and RLS can be better controlled than it is now. [!/ vc_column_text] [!vc_toggle title = "Sources:" open = "false"]

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