Donā??t move your legs, may invite heart stroke

Jan 02:  Move your body and get good health body but don’t move your legs unnecessarily otherwise you might be caught by heart attack. So if you have a usual activity to move your legs when doing something else not involving your legs means to say particularly when you are not engaged in any leg activity; just stop moving your leg and consult a doctor as you might be suffering from restless legs syndrome (RLS), which can increase your risk of getting a heart attack.

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People with restless leg syndrome - a common sleep disorder- are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart disease compared to those who don’t have, says a new study.

The study is published in January issue of ‘Neurology’ the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology and led by John W. Winkelman, MD, PhD, with Harvard Medical School in Boston, reviewed 3,433 people with an average age of 68 who were enrolled in the Sleep Heart Health Study.

Participants were diagnosed with RLS through detailed questionnaire. They were asked if they had been diagnosed with variety of systemic diseases including cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease. Of the participants three percent of men and seven percent of women had symptoms of RLS.

The team came to the conclusion that people infected with RLS syndrome are twice more likely to have cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease.

The result remained the same for people differing in sex, age, race, different mass index, diabetes, and high blood pressure, HDL/ LDL cholesterol levels and smoking.

"RLS could increase cardiovascular risk by a number of potential mechanisms," the investigators note -- for example, by raising nighttime heart rate and blood pressure.

RLS is a movement disorder that causes uncomfortable sensations in the legs that worsen when a person is inactive, such as during sleep.

"The association of RLS with heart disease and stroke was strongest in those people who had RLS symptoms at least 16 times per month. There was also an increased risk among people who said their RLS symptoms were severe compared to those with less bothersome symptoms," Dr Winkelman was quoted as saying .

“Most people with RLS have as many as 200 to 300 periodic leg movements per night of sleep. These leg movements are associated with substantial acute increases in both blood pressure and heart rate, which may over the long term, produce cardiovascular disease,” said lead researcher Dr John W Winkelman.