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Improvement of restless legs syndrome by nabat: a case series and new hypotheses for research

  • Ruohollah Seddigh and Amir-Abbas Keshavarz-Akhlaghi EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: February 3, 2016

Abstract

Background: Although many hypotheses have been suggested, the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome (RLS) has not been fully understood. In this case series, we describe eleven cases with RLS whose symptoms subsided by the use of crystallized sucrose. This kind of sugar, known as nabat, is used in traditional Iranian medicine.

Methods: Case series.

Results: All patients felt relief 30–60 min after taking 100 grams of dissolved nabat.

Conclusions: Sucrose seems to carry a special benefit for patients with RLS, and it provides evidence for growing literature demonstrating the different underlying mechanisms of RLS. Possible causes for this concurrence are also discussed.

Author contributions

All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

Research funding: None declared.

Employment or leadership: None declared.

Honorarium: None declared.

Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Received: 2015-3-17
Accepted: 2015-10-9
Published Online: 2016-2-3
Published in Print: 2016-3-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

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