The first time I saw a TV commercial about Restless Legs Syndrome, I was pretty sure it was a spoof. I figured I had stumbled across a prime-time Saturday Night Live special and was seeing a well-done fake ad. It was pretty funny, I thought — Restless Legs Syndrome, ha! Who thinks of this stuff? Of course, it turned out to not be a joke at all, but rather a pharmaceutical ad — for Requip, I think. And then I thought, Now this is what Direct-to-Consumer advertising is made for. You make up a disorder, give it an easygoing name, and voila: drug sales.
Oh, cynical me.
Writing in the New York Times, Nicholas Wade reports that researchers in Germany and Iceland have identified a genetic link to the condition, which “should help scientists understand the biological basis of the disorder.”
Not everyone is yet persuaded. Wade cites a recent report in the journal PLoS Medicine by two Dartmouth researchers, Steven Woloshin and Lisa Schwartz, called “Giving Legs to Restless Legs: A Case Study of How the Media Helps Make People Sick.” These skeptics, Wade writes, “argued that its prevalence had been exaggerated by pharmaceutical companies and uncritical newspaper articles, and that giving people diagnoses and powerful drugs were serious downsides of defining the elusive syndrome too broadly.”
Here is the lead of their report:
Life can be hard. Sometimes you feel sad or distracted or anxious. Or maybe you feel a compelling urge to move your legs. But does that mean you are sick? Does it mean you need medication?
Maybe, maybe not. For some people, symptoms are severe enough to be disabling. But for many others with milder problems, these “symptoms” are just the transient experiences of everyday life. Helping sick people get treatment is a good thing. Convincing healthy people that they are sick is not. Sick people stand to benefit from treatment, but healthy people may only get hurt: they get labeled “sick,” may become anxious about their condition, and, if they are treated, may experience side effects that overwhelm any potential benefit.
When asked to comment on this newest genetic finding, Woloshin stuck to his guns, telling Wade he “wouldn’t change a thing” in his PLoS Medicine article.
Which makes it sound as if Woloshin still pretty much thinks of Restless Legs Syndrome as, well, a joke.
and 
. You can also watch it on 
I’ve never been a fan of prescription drug commercials precisely because they try to convince healthy people that they’re sick. Now I have another reason to dislike them – the potential backlash against people who actually do suffer from problems.
I’ve had Restless Leg Syndrome since I was a child. It’s a difficult to describe feeling. Something like a cross between butterflies-in-the-stomach (except in your legs) and being stuck in the cramped back row of a plane, even when you’re lying down in bed. During the worst nights it could keep me up for hours. I tried to describe the feelings to my parents and my doctor but it was always dismissed as “growing pains” or my imagination. I actually started to wonder if it was all in my head until I saw a story about it on the news in the mid 90s. It was really a moment of revelation for me to finally hear someone else describe the exact problems that had been plaguing me for years.
A neurologist prescribed some Parkinsons-related drugs for the problem. One helped for awhile but the problems came back, even with higher doses. A second drug made me sick. I gave up on it for awhile and just continued living with the sleep problems. I’ve seen some of the recent drug commercials and whenever I mention my problem, people are quick to mention hearing about the new drugs on TV. I’m still cynical about RLS medication after my previous experiences, but considering trying the new ones. A recent blood test turned up the low blood iron issue (but a subsequent test showed it was normal again) so I’m looking into that first.
So sadly, after a lifetime of poor sleep, Restless Leg Syndrome has not been a joke for me. Now I got to wonder if I mention the problem to people, are they going to think I’m just being influenced by TV commercials.
I’ve never been a fan of prescription drug commercials precisely because they try to convince healthy people that they’re sick. Now I have another reason to dislike them – the potential backlash against people who actually do suffer from problems.
I’ve had Restless Leg Syndrome since I was a child. It’s a difficult to describe feeling. Something like a cross between butterflies-in-the-stomach (except in your legs) and being stuck in the cramped back row of a plane, even when you’re lying down in bed. During the worst nights it could keep me up for hours. I tried to describe the feelings to my parents and my doctor but it was always dismissed as “growing pains” or my imagination. I actually started to wonder if it was all in my head until I saw a story about it on the news in the mid 90s. It was really a moment of revelation for me to finally hear someone else describe the exact problems that had been plaguing me for years.
A neurologist prescribed some Parkinsons-related drugs for the problem. One helped for awhile but the problems came back, even with higher doses. A second drug made me sick. I gave up on it for awhile and just continued living with the sleep problems. I’ve seen some of the recent drug commercials and whenever I mention my problem, people are quick to mention hearing about the new drugs on TV. I’m still cynical about RLS medication after my previous experiences, but considering trying the new ones. A recent blood test turned up the low blood iron issue (but a subsequent test showed it was normal again) so I’m looking into that first.
So sadly, after a lifetime of poor sleep, Restless Leg Syndrome has not been a joke for me. Now I got to wonder if I mention the problem to people, are they going to think I’m just being influenced by TV commercials.
What’s your take on the apparent over-diagnosis of ADD/ADHD? It is pretty well documented among children, but most people don’t realize that almost any college student who has taken a psychology class can easily fake the symptoms and “fail” the written test used in diagnosis. These students are then often prescribed Adderall. With their parents and health insurance paying for the drug, they can keep some pills for personal use and sell the leftovers to their peers.
These drugs are so prevalent on college campuses that they can sell for as little as $1-$2 per pill, which is enough to give you energy for a night of studying (or partying).
The National Institute of Drug Abuse has done at least 1 study on the level of Adderall abuse at college campuses, finding that more competitive schools have higher rates of usage.
(I am a 23 year old college grad who has witnessed these things first hand)
What’s your take on the apparent over-diagnosis of ADD/ADHD? It is pretty well documented among children, but most people don’t realize that almost any college student who has taken a psychology class can easily fake the symptoms and “fail” the written test used in diagnosis. These students are then often prescribed Adderall. With their parents and health insurance paying for the drug, they can keep some pills for personal use and sell the leftovers to their peers.
These drugs are so prevalent on college campuses that they can sell for as little as $1-$2 per pill, which is enough to give you energy for a night of studying (or partying).
The National Institute of Drug Abuse has done at least 1 study on the level of Adderall abuse at college campuses, finding that more competitive schools have higher rates of usage.
(I am a 23 year old college grad who has witnessed these things first hand)
The nighttime spasm thing happens to both my husband and myself. However, when we started exercising regularly it has all but gone away. I think we keep creating disorders that we cause by our inactivity.
The nighttime spasm thing happens to both my husband and myself. However, when we started exercising regularly it has all but gone away. I think we keep creating disorders that we cause by our inactivity.
I have RLS…for me it is not a spasm (electrical nerve discharge), nor charlie-horse leg cramp (I take calcium-magnesium-zinc tablet for that), nor the text book creepy-crawly sand-in-your-blood feeling that I had 50 years ago, I must move my legs to feel comfortable.
Without taking Requip, I move my legs almost constantly, trying to get comfortable. I also wake up with the same symptoms and have difficulty falling back to sleep.
With Requip, there is no leg-movement discomfort. I agree that most of the Rx commercials are aimed at the consumer asking the doc for meds to fix problems that either exist or may not exist. Assumedly, the doc will determine if the patient really does have said ailment.
I wonder how many people have symptoms of a medical problem and never go to the doc, for whatever reason, but now are informed of what they may have…and receive treatment.
One could say about Rx infomercials the same about the internet, or television, or the newspaper, telephone…a tool for good or bad… caveat emptor.
“Life is tough…however it is a lot tougher if you are stupid”
I have RLS…for me it is not a spasm (electrical nerve discharge), nor charlie-horse leg cramp (I take calcium-magnesium-zinc tablet for that), nor the text book creepy-crawly sand-in-your-blood feeling that I had 50 years ago, I must move my legs to feel comfortable.
Without taking Requip, I move my legs almost constantly, trying to get comfortable. I also wake up with the same symptoms and have difficulty falling back to sleep.
With Requip, there is no leg-movement discomfort. I agree that most of the Rx commercials are aimed at the consumer asking the doc for meds to fix problems that either exist or may not exist. Assumedly, the doc will determine if the patient really does have said ailment.
I wonder how many people have symptoms of a medical problem and never go to the doc, for whatever reason, but now are informed of what they may have…and receive treatment.
One could say about Rx infomercials the same about the internet, or television, or the newspaper, telephone…a tool for good or bad… caveat emptor.
“Life is tough…however it is a lot tougher if you are stupid”