Research progress on the mechanisms of restless legs syndrome in patients with Parkinson's disease / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Parkinson's disease(PD)and restless legs syndrome(RLS)are relatively common movement disorders.There has been much debate over whether an etiological link exists between these two diseases and whether they share common pathophysiological mechanisms.PD and RLS may co-occur and respond well to dopaminergic agents, suggesting there is underlying dopamine dysfunction in both conditions.Despite the overlapping clinical features, the mechanisms underlying idiopathic RLS and RLS associated with PD may differ.In this article, we review studies related to the epidemiology, pathophysiology and genetics of PD with concurrent RLS, in order to provide evidence for exploring the link between RLS and PD.