Iron and RLS
April 1997 "Unique Conference Sets Research Priorities" A recap on a conference attended by scientists, clinicians, and patients in WashingtonDC on February 22, 1997.
April 1997 "Word from the Doctors: The Importance of Iron in Restless Legs Syndrome" Dr. Christopher J. Earley discusses the importance of iron in RLS patients. Dr. Earley also discusses the reasons why iron is important and why dopamine-related systems need iron.
August 1997 "RLS & PLMS at APSS" Two major courses for physicians related to RLS were recently offered. The first was a course on advanced course on movement disorders of sleep. The second was focused entirely on RLS and was designed to provide basic information that sleep professionals need to diagnose and treat RLS. Discussion of the role of iron, genetics, and children was also touched on in the article.
November 1997 "Do you have restless legs syndrome?" While quite old, this article presents a great starter for people recently diagnosed with RLS or trying to get a broad understanding of the syndrome. This article is designed for those previously unfamiliar with RLS or for those attempting to understand a recently diagnosed RLS case.
February 1998 "Word from the Doctors: Research Report on Iron" Researchers at JohnsHopkinsUniversity have demonstrated the importance of iron in treating RLS and have established new guidelines for determining when to treat RLS with iron supplements. A detailed article discussing iron supplementation and RLS.
May 1998 "In the News: Clinical and biochemical findings in uremic patients with and without restless legs syndrome” The restless legs syndrome (RLS) is one of the most common and unpleasant complaints of uremic patients. This research compares patients with RLS and without RLS being treated in dialysis centers.
May 1998 "Bedtime Stories" Sharon Rice discusses how eliminating tea and chocolate from her diet, taking iron supplements, and avoiding red dye in all her foods and supplements. Dr. Richard Allen provides a short reply with information about the truth behind iron and food dyes.
August 1998 "In the News: Iron and the Restless Legs Syndrome" Research to determine the ferritin levels of a sample RLS population.
August 1998 "RLS Around the World: Sweden" A discussion of progress being made in Sweden in the study of RLS. These include advancements with iron, valium, levodopa, and pregnant women.
February 1999 "RLS Around the World" Shaun O’Keefe shares his experiences with RLS in Ireland as he became educated about RLS and has begun to witness the growth in others even though Italy still does not have any sort of support group.
May 1999 "Bedtime Stories"One reader encourages readers to be patient if finding a solution to their RLS symptoms takes awhile by sharing his own story of patience while testing iron levels.
May 1999 "Allen Shares Research Findings with SAB and Board of Directors" Dr. Richard Allen, a member of our SAB and the Chair of our Medical Advisory Board, presented some preliminary, but very exciting, results from research that he and his colleague, Dr. Christopher Earley, are conducting.
August 1999 "Readers Write" Dr. Sheer discusses RLS, iron levels, and Lyme disease and associations between the three of them.
November 1999 "RLS Foundation Research: Children with RLS/PLMD" The purpose of our study is to begin to investigate the possible relationship between iron deficiency anemia and elevated lead levels and RLS/PLMD in young children. The author discusses the research, funded by the RLS Foundation, in detail discussing what has been done, what will be done, and what the goals of the research are.
November 1999 "Moscow Patients Report High Rate of RLS Symptoms" Debee Nichols discusses The Stanford University Primary Care Sleep Education Project in Moscow, Idaho looking into the high prevalence of restless leg-type symptoms in the Moscow Clinic patients and discovering if that translates into a high prevalence of RLS in the general population.
November 1999 "RLS Around the World: Japan" In Japan, RLS research has been mainly focused upon pathophysiology and drug treatment of the syndrome. Jun Horiguchi, MD discusses what else is happening in Japan in association with RLS.
February 2000 “NIH Workshop Emphasized Iron and Dopamine Connection in RLS: Dopamine and Sleep Disorders"A workshop was held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, on November 10-11, 1999, to stimulate research into the cause of RLS and related disorders. Dr. Emmanuel Mignot discusses the recent NIH workshop.
February 2000 “NIH Urged to Support Dopamine Research: The Emerging Story in RLS Research: The Dopamine Connection” A workshop was held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, on November 10-11, 1999, to stimulate research into the cause of RLS and related disorders. In his article, Dr. Ehrenberg discusses the dopamine system and iron deficiencies in detail.
February 2000 "The Emerging Story in RLS Research: The Dopamine Connection" A workshop was held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, on November 10-11, 1999, to stimulate research into the cause of RLS and related disorders. James R. Connor shares why the recent NIH workshop was beneficial to him. He also discusses, in great detail, the relationship of iron to dopamine and RLS.
May 2000 "Word from the Doctors: RLS Foundation Research Grant: RLS and PLMD in Children with Iron-Deficiency Anemia and Lead Poisoning” Judith Owens, recipient of an RLS grant, discusses their research studying the hypothesis that children with anemia and lead poisoning, probably related to decreased dopamine activity, will be more likely have nocturnal RLS/PLMD, and that the resultant sleep deprivation and fragmentation will result in significant behavioral concerns.
May 2000 "In the News: A randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial of iron in restless legs syndrome” Previous openlabel trials have shown iron to be efficacious in the treatment of restless legs syndrome. Here researchers performed a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial of iron sulfate.
May 2000 "In the News: Rheumatologic serologies in secondary restless legs syndrome” This research looks at whether or not renal failure, iron deficiency, pregnancy, neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjogren’s syndrome could be the cause of RLS in research subjects.
May 2000 " Word from the Doctors: Possible Causes of RLS: NIH-funded Research" Dr. Allen writes about one of the first NIH-funded clinical research projects focusing on determining possible causes for RLS. Determining what causes RLS is an important step both for finding better treatment and possibly finding ways to prevent development of the disorder and Dr. Allen summarizes where their research has been and where it is headed.
August 2000 "Connor Joins SAB" Dr. James R. Connor discussed how he ultimately became aware and interested in RLS and what led him to joining the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board.
August 2000 "In the News: Abnormalities in CSF concentrations of ferritin and transferring in restless legs syndrome” Discussion of research discussing iron levels in patients with RLS.
August 2000 "RLS in the News: Defining the phenotype of the restless legs syndrome (RLS) using age-of-symptom-onset” This study compares the effects of current age and serum ferritin on RLS severity for early-and late-onset (over 45) RLS.
August 2000 "Word from The Docs: Iron Therapy Not Without Risks” New research outline a potential risk to taking iron for the treatment of RLS. This risk occurs when the person has RLS and, unbeknownst to him or her, also a common genetic disorder known as hemochromatosis. This article provides a detailed explanation of this disorder and can help physicians and their patients understand what to look for when considering iron replacement therapy.
Spring 2006 "Iron and RLS" Dr. Christopher Earley, MD, PhD discusses the research behind low iron levels and RLS. In particular, current research points to low serum ferritin levels in the brain (“serum ferritin” is a protein that stores and transports iron in the blood which can be measured as a very sensitive estimate of the body’s overall iron stores).
Summer 2006 "In the news: Daily Doses of Dopamine: New Insight Into What Causes RLS" : The current theory of what causes RLS suggests a relationship between iron and dopamine, where low brain iron would lead to changes in the dopaminergic system. This study shows a greater change in the dopaminergic circadian rhythm in patients with RLS and supports this theory.
Summer 2006 "In the news: Early vs. Late Onset RLS: Does Iron play a role?” This study suggests the fact that the iron concentration in the brains of late-onset RLS patients is normal does not guarantee that that iron is being utilized correctly.