Restless Leg Syndrome

People with restless leg syndrome, or RLS, have a creepy-crawly feeling in their legs. This causes an irresistible urge to move the legs. It's a major cause of sleep loss, as the symptoms are most likely to occur at night. It has been found that brain cells need iron, oxygen carried by hemoglobin, and activation. They get nutrients from transport molecules that carry iron from the blood. Normal brain cells have doorways that let these transport molecules into the cell. Patients with restless leg syndrome lacked these portals, known as transferrin receptors. This means in spite of adequate amounts of iron in the blood not enough of it can enter the brain to prevent molecular damage.

Previous studies have shown that bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine causes inflammatory cells to increase production of IL-6. This cytokine, in turn, is known to boost levels of hepcidin, a protein that decreases iron absorption and transport. Bacterial overgrowth in the gut could be causing the problems and natural, anti-parasitic therapy targeting the stomach and small intestine might be the solution. RLS behaves differently from other autoimmune diseases, as this condition will increase during pregnancy. RLS is seen commonly, in patients with Fibromyalgia and Irritable Bowel syndrome.