Restless Legs Syndrome and Growing Pains

Eligibility: All twins and family members who participated in the study in 2019

Growing pains is the most common primary (spontaneously occurring) pain disorder of childhood. Restless legs syndrome is an important and often distressing cause of impaired sleep and other problems. You may have it without realising. The ultimate purpose of this study is to improve prevention and treatment.

This study has been collecting and analysing data since 2019.

Findings so far suggest:

  1. Restless legs without pain are connected to low iron levels and certain health issues like obesity, high blood pressure, and not enough vitamin D. Restless legs with pain are linked to different kinds of pain conditions. 
  2. Having low iron levels might make people more sensitive to pain and more likely to have other pain conditions.
  3. Our research is also helping us understand how low iron in the body, especially in the brain, affects pain. We’re exploring why some people with one kind of pain condition end up with other pain conditions.

New research has discovered that sensitivity to everyday things like light and sound are connected to having different kinds of pain conditions. This is a very important piece to understand in our research. So this short follow up survey asks exsisting participants to complete one more short survey to gather this infomation.

What is involved?

Completeing a short 12-question survey about how you react to things like sounds and light in your everyday life. The survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

This study was a family study inviting not only twins but their children and their other parent to participate too – each family member will be invited again if they previously participated.

Who is eligible?

All twins and family members who participated in the Restless Legs Syndrome and Growing Pains study in 2019.

Would you like to get involved?

If you would like to participate or find out more please contact us.

Recruitment:

January – March 2024. Now closed