Periodic Limb Movements In Sleep

Periodic Limb Movements in Sleep (PLMS) consist of stereotypical, intermittent, and repetitive movements of the limbs that occur during sleep. Up to 90% of the WED sufferers present PLMS, which is considered to be a supportive criterion for the diagnosis of WED. The concomitance between WED and PLMS is so great that it suggests a common causality between the two conditions, and our assumption is that both are engendered by the same mechanism: increased esthesia of the superficial and deep somatosensory receptors in the legs. The threshold for receiving stimuli from the environment by these receptors is reduced. Stimuli captured by these receptors are transduced and result in exaggerated action potentials and inputs, which strongly reach the spinal cord and then the somatosensory cortex. During wakefulness, these afferent signals prompt a response by the cortex to elicit conscious movements. Our assumption for this movement response is that activity incites a massage effect on the somatosensory receptors. During movement, leg muscles exert continuous and rhythmic pressure on the receptors so that they stop firing to the cortex, similar to what happens when massage is applied to the legs of a WED patient. Willis-Ekbom disease (Restless Legs Syndrome) Pathophysiology: The Imbalance Between Dopamine and Thyroid Hormone Theory: José Carlos Pereira Jr, Marcia Pradella-Hallinan

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Last date updated on September, 2024