Ask Dr. Gott

Tue, May 13 2008

— DEAR DR. GOTT: I am an 86-year-old widow of a disabled World War II veteran. I am the eldest in a family of five girls. I and two of my sisters have Restless Legs Syndrome. We three also had rheumatic fever. I have often wondered whether there was a connection between the two conditions.
My father also had rheumatic fever, but he died at age 46, so I do not know if he would have had RLS.
DEAR READER: Restless Legs Syndrome is in no way related to rheumatic fever, but, as you know, the cause of RLS remains unknown, so the future may tell us more.
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