Willis-Ekbom disease is not associated with poor cardiovascular health in adults

Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom disease (WED), is a neurologic sensorimotor disease characterized by an unpleasant urge to
move the legs, with symptoms worse at night than during the day 1]. Recent literature has shown the cognitive and physical impacts that WED has had
on approximately 10 % of persons within Northern European populations (ie, Italy,
Sweden, Finland, and Germany) and the United States 2]–6]. However, the association between WED and cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues
to be debated. According to the World Health Organization, the number 1 and number
2 most common causes of death from 2000 to 2012 worldwide were secondary to CVD—ischemic
heart disease and stroke, respectively. Therefore, recognition and prompt treatment
of exacerbating factors are prudent, and first identification of those factors is
needed.

Previous epidemiologic evaluations of WED and various health variables have been conducted
through self-reported questionnaires or telephone interviews by trained interviewers
2], 3], 6]–11]. Current data show varying degrees of association of WED to cardiovascular risk factors,
with most studies conducted in European populations. In this regard, data among Native
Amerindians are nonexistent. Therefore, we conducted an epidemiologic cross-sectional
study to evaluate WED and cardiovascular risk factors in a native Ecuadorian population.
Our goal was to determine whether a WED diagnosis, based on the 2003 position paper
of the [International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG)], has a correlation
with any of 7 cardiovascular metrics—smoking, body mass index (BMI), exercise, diet,
blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol—after controlling for age, sex, and alcohol
intake. We hypothesized that WED is associated with a poor cardiovascular health status
or with at least 1 of the 7 metrics in the “poor” range.