Seasonal trends in restless legs symptomatology: evidence from Internet search query data

Restless Leg Syndrome Across the Globe

“…One study used Internet search query data for the term restless legs as a surrogate for RLS/WED symptoms and found a seasonal effect in northern and southern hemispheres that coincided with the greatest volume of searches in the summer. 58 Searches for restless legs were most frequent in June and July for northern hemispheric countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom) and in January for southern hemispheric countries (Australia); both periods coincide with summer and are periods of greatest ultraviolet exposure. There may also be an association between RLS/WED and vitamin D. A Finnish study showed that serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were significantly lower in women with idiopathic RLS/WED than in age-matched female controls.…”

Seasonal effects on the occurrence of nocturnal leg cramps: a prospective cohort study

“…Google Trends data have been used for infectious disease surveillance (influenza, tuberculosis and Lyme disease), for assessment of the effect of tax legislation on queries related to smoking cessation and for establishing a seasonal pattern to mood disorders and restless leg syndrome. 8,[13][14][15][16][17] Our data, downloaded as a spreadsheet of week-by-week relative search volume, consisted of all Google searches originating from the United States (the largest single geographic region in the database) during the period of available data at the time of our analysis (Feb. 15, 200415, , to Mar. 11, 2012.…”

Clinical characteristics of leg restlessness in Parkinson's disease compared with idiopathic Restless Legs Syndrome

“…Seasonal variation of RLS have been rarely reported, one study found RLS patients presented seasonal variation of their symptoms, which were more frequent or severe during summer [28]. Another study reported that RLS patients often complained that a hot environment like a summer season or just a blanket on the legs could aggravate their symptoms [29].…”

“…Studies show iron metabolism varies during the year with seasonal decreases in peripheral iron in summer. Since iron is thought to be related with RLS pathophysiology, iRLS patients who may have decreased CNS iron storage may have more severe symptoms during this season [28]. For RLS patients in PD, we wonder if this is a part of nonmotor sensory fluctuations refer to Parkinsonism related factors.…”