Restless Legs Syndrome May Raise BP
Millions of Americans with restless legs syndrome (RLS) may have an increased risk for high blood pressure, one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease. In a new study, middle-aged women with the most frequent RLS episodes were 41% more likely to have high blood pressure than women without the disorder, and the prevalence of high blood pressure increased with RLS symptom frequency. The findings strongly suggest that restless legs syndrome increases the risk for high blood pressure, but more research is needed to confirm the association, says researcher Salma Batool-Anwar, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "We cannot say from this study that restless legs syndrome causes blood pressure to rise, but we did see a significant relationship between the severity of (RLS) symptoms and prevalence of hypertension," she tells WebMD. RLS and the Heart, Studies Mixed More than 5 million people in the United States have modera