If you are woken up at night by your partner kicking out as if he's on a football pitch, he may not simply be dreaming about the World Cup. He could have restless leg syndrome (RLS), a condition which doctors are warning is extremely common but virtually untreated in Britain.
RLS is thought to affect between six and eight million men and women in Britain, and in serious cases can make their lives miserable.
The first academic conference on RLS will take place in London at the Royal Society of Medicine on 1 October, with both doctors and patients discussing the impact the condition has had on their lives.
It is characterised by a strong urge to move the legs, and often wakes up sufferers and their partners during the middle of the night. Lack of proper sleep can leave people moody and tired, but for most it goes undiagnosed for years.
Very few people make it to a specialist clinic, but if they do they can be treated by medication which can relieve the problem, helping both sufferers and their partners.
Dr Ray Chaudhuri, a neurologist at King's College Hospital in south London who specialises in movement disorders, is organising the conference to make doctors and the public more aware of what the syndrome can mean.
'It's a condition that is totally treatable, but because there is such a wide range of symptoms they often go undiagnosed and people are simply told to put up with it,' he said. 'Sometimes it's seen as a sign of psychological disturbance. They often have years of sleeplessness, depression, and lack of concentration before they are referred to a specialist.'
Around a quarter of sufferers have RLS seriously enough to affect their lives, but only two per cent will see a neurologist.
RLS is treatable with a class of drugs known as dopamine agonists, that are usually used to treat Parkinson's disease. Patients often have an iron deficiency, which is why it can appear in pregnancy, so they may also need an iron supplement.
'We don't know the cause, but it could arise from a problem with dopamine levels in the brain combined with an iron deficiency,' Chaudhuri said. 'There's also a strong genetic factor and around 40 per cent of sufferers have a family history of it.'
Some sufferers have their nights constantly interrupted by the irresistible urge to move their legs.
Partners of sufferers are forced into separate beds, tired of being constantly woken by the movements.
There have long been concerns that GPs are failing to diagnose the condition. However, a study this year, based on questionnaires distributed from doctors' surgeries, showed that at least 5.6 per cent of British patients are sufferers, reporting at least twice-weekly episodes of restless legs with a moderate or severe impact on their quality of life.
Often the treatments they are given do not really help. These include medication for gout and cramps, as well as painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs and anxiolytics.
As Chaudhuri will explain this week, there are more effective treatments, including the drug Requip, which is waiting to be licensed for the condition. In Germany, drugs normally used for Parkinson's disease are often prescribed, and painkillers such as morphine may be useful in severe cases.
'It's quite a serious sleep disorder that affects a lot of people,' said Professor Jim Horne, head of the sleep disorders centre at Loughborough University. 'Their sleep is disturbed and, unless they are really awake, they will not be aware of it.'
· For more information visit restlesslegs.org.uk
