Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder,
as individuals are forced to move their legs in order to gain relieve from
symptoms. Acupuncture is reported to have improved symptoms of RLS according to
a report published in the journal of Evidence-Based Complimentary and
Alternative Medicine.
RLS is also sometimes called Willis-Ekbom syndrome after
the doctor who first described the condition in 1945. RLS causes an irresistible
urge to move one’s legs, occasionally arms, to stop uncomfortable or odd feeling,
often as creeping or crawling sensation. Symptoms occur primarily at the night
when a person is relaxing or at rest and can increase in severity during the night
and make it difficult to get to sleep. This can have a knock-on effect of
causing poor sleep and tiredness next day. There are two types of RLS, one is
called primary RLS and runs in families. Another is called secondary RLS caused
by some underlying conditions such as kidney failure or iron deficiency
anaemia. Treatment normally depends whether there is an underlying cause, if
the underlying cause is identified treatment of the cause also will cure the
RLS. If the cause of RLS is unclear treatment includes life style changes and
medication e.g. dopamine agonists, painkiller and many more.
A group of scientists from China and Japan carried out a
single-blind clinical study to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture on RLS. Thirty-one
patients with RLS were recruited for the studies and were divided into standard
acupuncture group (n=15) and randomized acupuncture group (n=16). Patients in former
group were given acupuncture at acupoints BL23, DU4, SP10, BL57, LR3, ST36, SP6
and KI3 for 30 min, 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Patients in later group were
applied acupuncture at sham acupoints. Evaluation included nocturnal activity and
early sleep activity using leg actigraph recordings which provides objective
assessment; International Restless Legs Syndrome Rating Scale, and Epworth
Sleepiness Scale which are subjective assessments between week 0 (baseline), week 2, week 4, and
week 6. It was found that standard acupuncture treatment significantly reduced abnormal
leg activity in week 2, 4 and 6 compared with base line and sham acupuncture
group judged by all parameters mentioned above. This suggested that quality of
sleep was improved as well.
The authors suggest that acupuncture could a potentially
suitable therapy for RLS.
Reference:
Pan W et al., Actigraph
evaluation of acupuncture for treating restless legs syndrome. Evidence-Based
Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Volume 2015, Article ID 343201, 7 pages. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2015/343201/
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