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Restless legs syndrome

disabling neurological pathology characterized by the irresistible urge to move the legs

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ916280 ↗
Source-derived summary

Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis–Ekbom disease (WED), is a neurological disorder, usually chronic, that causes an overwhelming urge to move one's legs. There is often an unpleasant feeling in the legs that improves temporarily by moving them. This feeling is often described as aching, tingling, or crawling in nature. Occasionally, arms may also be affected. The feelings generally happen when at rest and therefore can make it hard to sleep. Sleep disruption may leave people with RLS sleepy during the day, with low energy, and irritable or depressed. Additionally, many have limb twitching during sleep, a condition known as periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD). RLS is not the same as habitual foot-tapping or leg-rocking.

Signs and symptoms

RLS sensations range from pain or aching in the muscles to "an itch you can't scratch", a "buzzing sensation", an unpleasant "tickle that won't stop", a "crawling" feeling, or limbs jerking while awake. The sensations typically begin or intensify during quiet wakefulness, such as when relaxing, reading, studying, or trying to sleep.

Editorial summary

“Restless legs syndrome” enters the record as disabling neurological pathology characterized by the irresistible urge to move the legs. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Restless, legs and syndrome can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 172-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Restless, legs and syndrome.
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“Restless legs syndrome” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Restless, legs and syndrome provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q916280. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Restless legs syndrome” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.