MONTRÉAL, April 10 -- Restless legs syndrome may boost nocturnal blood pressure and exacerbate cardiovascular disease risks, particularly among older patients, investigators here suggested.
Older adults with restless legs syndrome of long duration may be particularly at risk, reported Paola A. Lanfranchi, M.D., M.Sc., of the Hôpital du Sacré Coeur de Montréal, and colleagues, in the April 10 issue of Neurology.
Blood pressure surges related to periodic leg movements during sleep might affect the cardiovascular system of otherwise healthy patients, they wrote, citing several epidemiologic studies between those with restless legs syndrome and cardiovascular disease.
Although restless legs syndrome has been associated in population-based studies with increased risk for coronary artery disease and hypertension, the mechanisms underlying the increased risk are unknown, the authors wrote.
They enrolled four women and six men with the syndrome into a study assessing both heart rate and blood pressure changes associated with periodic leg movements during sleep, with or without EEG signs of arousal.
The patients, mean age 47.3 + 13.5 years, spent one night in a sleep lab, during which they were monitored with polysomnography and noninvasive beat-to-beat blood pressure monitoring. For each participant, 10 periodic leg movements during sleep with microarousals, and 10 periodic leg movements during sleep without microarousals were given cardiovascular analysis.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Hypertension/tb1/5409
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