Restless-legs syndrome is a lot like it sounds—an unpleasant feeling in your legs that brings an irresistible urge to move them around. Symptoms usually set in late in the day and can badly disturb sleep. Some studies have found that drugs known as dopamine agonists (drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease) can help, but most trials have been short. Researchers in Houston looked at using dopamine agonists over the long term.

What the researchers wanted to know: How well do dopamine agonists work on restless-legs syndrome long term?

What they did: In January 1996, doctors at the Baylor College of Medicine started routinely prescribing dopamine agonists to patients with restless-legs syndrome (RLS). For this study, the researchers looked back at medical records for anyone who'd been seen for RLS at the Baylor Parkinson Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic between then and June 2003 (they also called some patients). They were looking for notes on how well the patients had responded to drugs and whether the medication had caused "augmentation"—meaning that patients' symptoms were better at night but started earlier in the day.

What they found: Dopamine agonists are still effective after six months. Many patients had some augmentation, but in most, it wasn't that bad.

What the study means to you: Dopamine agonists appear to work over the long term, too.

Caveats: The researchers excluded people with Parkinson's disease (because, they say, RLS in Parkinson's is probably different from RLS without Parkinson's). Also, since the doctors specialize in such disorders, they may have seen more of the worst cases, which had been referred by other physicians.

Find out more: A restless-legs syndrome fact sheet from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Read the article: Ondo, W., Romanyshyn, J., Vuong, K.D., and D. Lai. "Long-Term Treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome with Dopamine Agonists." Archives of Neurology. September 2004, Vol. 61, pp. 1393–1397.

Abstract online: http://archneur.ama-assn.org