Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a legitimate medical condition with established diagnostic criteria and defined treatment parameters. To date, over 1,300 medical journal articles have been published on RLS.

RLS is not a nervous twitch or a leg-bouncing habit; rather it is a well-defined neurological condition. Nor is RLS new: it was first described in the medical literature in 1945 by Swedish neurologist Dr. Karl Axel Ekbom.

To be diagnosed with RLS, patients must meet all four of the essential criteria re-confirmed in 2002 by the National Institutes of Health workshop. Treatment options are not limited to one medication, and some people are able to treat their RLS without the use of medications.

People who suffer from RLS are not simply experiencing ordinary occurrences of life, as suggested by your column of July 19. Published studies have shown that people suffering from RLS may also suffer severe sleep deprivation and experience a negative impact on cognitive function. A recently-published large-scale epidemiologic study found that RLS sufferers experienced a negative impact on quality of life similar to those suffering from depression and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In addition, RLS affects whole families. When one person is unable to sleep and participate in daily activities, everyone pays the price.

RLS is not a trivial condition, and by making the assumption that it is, your uninformed editorial does an injustice to everyone affected by RLS.

Georgianna Bell

Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation

Rochester, Minn.