The risk of suicide and self-injury is almost three times higher in people with restless legs syndrome

Restless legs syndrome was associated with almost tripled suicide and self-injury risk in a new study conducted by Penn State researchers.

With the help of Big Data, researchers found that people with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) were twice as likely to commit suicide or self-harm even when they were in control. conditions such as depression, insomnia, diabetes, etc.

The study was published today (23 August) in the Journal of the Open Network of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Xiang Gao, associate professor of nutrition science and director of the epidemiology nutrition laboratory at Penn State, said the increase in the suicide rate in the United States suggests that doctors should pay attention particular to the mental health of patients with ALS.

"Our study suggests that restless legs syndrome is not only related to physical conditions, but also to mental health," Gao said. "And, with under-diagnosed EPIRBs and rising suicide rates, this relationship will become increasingly important.Clinicians may want to be cautious when they examine patients for both the RLS." and the risk of suicide. "

According to the researchers, RLS affects about 5% of the US population and causes a feeling of discomfort in a person's legs, which causes the impulse to move it, often during the night. Although the exact cause of SJS remains unknown, previous research has shown an association between SJS and iron deficiency, as well as low levels of dopamine in the brain.

Gao said that although the SJS has been associated with higher mortality risk in the past, scientists do not know why. Previous research has shown associations between RLS and an increased risk of hypertension or heart attack, suggesting a possible cardiovascular component. However, some studies have also found links between RLS, depression, and suicide ideas.

"It has been more than 10 years since I wanted to explore a possible link between RLS and suicide, but since suicide rates and EPIRBs are low in data, this has not been possible," he said. said Gao. "But when I came here, in the state of Penn, I had access to a dataset of over 200 million people, so we had the power to test that hypothesis."

The researchers used Truven Health MarketScan's national claims data from 2006 to 2014, including 24,179 people diagnosed with leg syndrome and 145,194 people who were not diagnosed with leg syndrome. reached. All participants were free from suicide and self-harm at the beginning of the study.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that the risk of suicide or self-harm was 270% higher in people with restless legs syndrome than in those who did not have it. The risk did not decrease even when researchers controlled factors such as depression, sleep disorders and common chronic diseases.

"After controlling for these factors, we still have not seen the association decrease, which means that RLS could still be an independent variable contributing to suicide and self-harm," said Muzi Na. , career development professor at Broadhurst for the study of health promotion and diseases. Prevention at Penn State. "We still do not know the exact reason, but our findings may help guide future research to learn more about the mechanism."

In the future, the researchers said that further studies would be needed to replicate and confirm the results.

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