JAHA: Treatment of restless leg syndrome is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
, it is not clear whether the treatment of RLS can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with RLS.
recently, a research paper published in JAHA, an authoritative journal in the field of cardiovascular disease, found that all data were collected retrospectively, but subjects were followed forward-lookingly to determine the outcome of interest.
from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2014, researchers used the Truven Health Business Claims Database.
participants were 169,393, including 24,199 non-pregnancy participants diagnosed with RLS (16,694 patients treated with RLS and 7,505 untreated patients), and 145,194 participants without RLS age and gender matching.
participants did not have CVD until January 1, 2009 (analysis baseline).
identified CVD events (myocardial infarction, angina, stroke, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure).
researchers adjusted for potential confuse factors, such as the availment of chronic diseases and drug use.
identified 16,574 CVD cases between 2009 and 2014.
the adjusted risk ratio (HR) of CVD in patients treated with RLS compared to non-RLS groups was 1.26 (95% CI is 1.20-1.32) (P.lt;0.001).
patients with untreated RLS had an HR of 1.53 (95% CI of 1.42-1.65) (P.lt;0.001).
In addition to the use of ketamine, all different RLS treatments (adjusted HR range 0.71-0.84; all P.lt;0.001) including dopamine, anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines, and opioids have been observed to significantly reduce the risk of CVD.
, RLS is associated with higher CVD risks in the future.
, patients treated with RLS had significantly lower cardiovascular risk than untreated RLS patients.