The restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common movement disorder, characterized by an almost irresistible urge to move the legs. According to recent estimates, it affects 5-20 percent of adults and often has a substantial impact on sleep, daily activities and quality of life. However, the etiology of RLS remains unknown. Large, well-characterized cohort studies with validated assessment of lifestyle factors could provide critical information and lead to new approaches for prevention and treatment. Particularly, there is a need of further large prospective studies on the clinical impact of RLS given a high prevalence of the syndrome. Because the majority of RLS patients (~90 percent) remain undiagnosed, studies based on clinical series may not adequately represent the spectrum and natural history of the disease. Some studies, primarily cross-sectional, found that RLS patients had a higher prevalence of a number of chronic diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease and Parkinson's disease), and an increased risk of mortality. We propose here to document the occurrence of RLS among female and male participants of two large and well established cohorts, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) and the Nurses'Health Study II (NHS II), for the purpose of addressing several important hypotheses related to the etiology and clinical impacts of RLS. The HPFS and NHS II were initiated in 1986 and 1989 respectively, including 51,529 male health professionals (aged 45-70 in 1986) and 116,678 middle-aged female registered nurses (aged 25-42 in 1989). Information of RLS, using standardized questions, has been collected since 2002 in the HPFS and 2005 in the NHS II. We will investigate 1) whether blood donation, obesity, genetic components are associated with RLS risk during 4-6 years of follow-up;and 2) whether RLS is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases (coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, Parkinson's disease and erectile dysfunction) and mortality in the HPFS (2002-2010) and the NHS II (2005-2011). We expect to be able to document 5167 prevalent and 935 incident RLS cases, which will provide unprecedented power to test the proposed hypotheses. In addition, documentation of the occurrence of RLS in our cohorts is the critical component of a large bank of information that includes multiple and validated assessments of several aspects of lifestyle, including diet and health habits, over a period of 16 years in men and women, and prospectively collected blood and DNA samples. This bank of information is unique and will be of significance for future investigations on RLS and biomarkers and genetic characteristics.

Public Health Relevance

The primary aim of this application is to examine whether blood donation, obesity and genetic components influence risk of restless legs syndrome and whether restless legs syndrome increases risk of chronic diseases and mortality.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS062879-03
Application #
8126347
Study Section
Neurological, Aging and Musculoskeletal Epidemiology (NAME)
Program Officer
Gwinn, Katrina
Project Start
2009-09-28
Project End
2013-08-31
Budget Start
2011-09-01
Budget End
2013-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$339,428
Indirect Cost
Name
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Department
Type
DUNS #
030811269
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
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Niu, Jinya; Sahni, Shivani; Liao, Susu et al. (2015) Association between Sleep Duration, Insomnia Symptoms and Bone Mineral Density in Older Boston Puerto Rican Adults. PLoS One 10:e0132342
De Vito, Katerina; Li, Yanping; Batool-Anwar, Salma et al. (2014) Prospective study of obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and risk of restless legs syndrome. Mov Disord 29:1044-52
Zhang, Chunbai; Li, Yanping; Malhotra, Atul et al. (2014) Restless legs syndrome status as a predictor for lower physical function. Neurology 82:1212-8
Li, Yanping; Hu, Yang; Ley, Sylvia H et al. (2014) Sulfonylurea use and incident cardiovascular disease among patients with type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study among women. Diabetes Care 37:3106-13
Li, Yanping; Zhang, Xuehong; Winkelman, John W et al. (2014) Association between insomnia symptoms and mortality: a prospective study of U.S. men. Circulation 129:737-46
Li, Yanping; Batool-Anwar, Salma; Kim, Sehee et al. (2013) Prospective study of restless legs syndrome and risk of erectile dysfunction. Am J Epidemiol 177:1097-105
Li, Yanping; Wang, Wei; Winkelman, John W et al. (2013) Prospective study of restless legs syndrome and mortality among men. Neurology 81:52-9
Li, Y; Munger, K L; Batool-Anwar, S et al. (2012) Association of multiple sclerosis with restless legs syndrome and other sleep disorders in women. Neurology 78:1500-6
Li, Yanping; Walters, Arthur S; Chiuve, Stephanie E et al. (2012) Prospective study of restless legs syndrome and coronary heart disease among women. Circulation 126:1689-94

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