Study: Drugs Reduce Restless-Leg Symptoms

Some medicines can reduce symptoms in 60% of people with restless legs syndrome, a review of prior research finds. People with restless legs syndrome feel a need to move their legs, partly to relieve discomfort in the legs. The new study combined results of 29 prior studies. They looked at results of drug treatment in people with moderate or severe restless legs syndrome. People took various drugs. Two groups of drugs produced the best results. Medicines in one group are known as dopamine agonists. They include carbidopa/levodopa (Sinemet), pramipexole (Mirapex) and ropinirole (Requip). The other group of drugs includes gabapentin (Neurontin and generics), pregabalin (Lyrica) and carbamazepine (Tegretol and generics). Both types of drugs improved symptoms by at least half in about 61% of patients. About 40% of those who got placebo (fake) pills reported similar relief.