Restless legs syndrome

The article presents the first attempt to consider restless legs syndrome (RLS) from the point of view of systemic pathology of the nervous system that regards its pathogenesis as discordance between the program of movement formation within the central nervous system and the activity of peripheral structures that perform executive functions and constitute latent myofascial trigger point (MFTP) of the gastrocnemial muscles. The actual peripheral MFTP factor is a triggering and supporting link in the RLS pathogenesis. Pathologic changes in the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints serve as mediators in modulating the spinal reflex hyperactivity and in reducing suprasegmental inhibitory mechanisms by forming generators of pathological hyperactivity in the rostral parts of the medulla at the level of synergies of the movement construction. Typical manifestations of the RLS are developed in conditions of minimal dysfunction of the mesodiencephalon - the formation of generators of pathological hyperactivity at different levels of the movement construction system. The treatment provides for the correction of pathological mechanisms at different levels such as peripheral, vertebral, and cerebral.