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Getting that Restless Feeling: A simulator to educate about Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)

First there’s pressure, then this tingly feeling, like there are ants crawling up your legs giving you little electric shocks.
It’s not painful, it’s just uncomfortable.
What it is, for an estimated 12 million people, is a neurological disorder that keeps them awake at night. Known as restless legs syndrome or RLS for short, the condition sounds almost trivial, until you experience it.
That’s the message behind the RLS Simulator, a ski-boot-like device which lets people experience the creepy-crawly, aching, burning sensations of restless leg syndrome.
Created by a partnership between pharmaceutical maker Boehringer Ingelheim and RJO Group, the simulator is being taken across the country to show people that RLS is a serious condition.
In addition to the boot, the simulator comes with virtual reality headset which gives the wearer a first-person narrative of a typical day and night.
The simulator was on display at Sleep 2007 meeting of the Associated Professionals of Sleep Societies. The demonstration was sponsored by the pharmaceutical maker Boehringer Ingelheim which developed Mirapex, a drug treatment for moderate to severe restless legs syndrome.
Dr. Patrick Wright, a board certified sleep specialist with the Minnesota Sleep Institute said the simulator is helping non-sufferers and doctors understand what RLS patients experience.
Although estimates are that 12 million Americans have RLS, most don’t know about it and many doctors are not familiar with the neurological condition.
By having medical professionals try on the boot and experience RLS though the eyes of a sufferer, Wright said many doctors have described it as an “Aha! moment.”
In the video, a middle-aged woman complains of aching, burning, itching and having the need to move. When the woman is lying in bed, the pressure in the boot tightens and a strange tingling sensation begins. The video and boot work together. As the woman experiences discomfort, so do you.
Wright said the simulator “presents the classic story of the disorder.”
But the story has a positive ending.
Wright said sufferers can minimize RLS by getting regular hard exercise, avoiding caffeine and getting enough sleep.
“And if those fail, there is good drug therapy out there,” he said. “We can fix this.”
Mirapex is just one of several drugs used to effectively to treat the condition.
Before the drugs and therapy can be prescribed, Wright said, doctors have to be educated on the condition and sufferers need to know there is help. The goal of the simulator is to do that, one leg at a time.
Written by Dorren Robinson, Content Director for www.ISleptGreat.com.
Dorren’s days are spent playing many roles — journalist, professor, wife, and mother.
She is keenly aware of how elusive great sleep can be.

Dr. Patrick Wright, a board certified sleep specialist with the Minnesota Sleep Institute
http://minnlung.com/meet_our_team.php
Boehringer Ingelheim
http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/corporate/home/home.asp
RJO Group
http://www.rjogroup.com/