“It feels like a toothache in your leg,” says one woman.
“Creepy, crawly bugs,” says another.
“Almost like a really bad cramp,” adds a third.
They’re talking about restless legs syndrome, or RLS, a health condition which affects an estimated 8 million Americans – but manages to get very little attention or respect.
The New York Times, however, recently focused a spotlight on the rarely discussed condition, which has a strong genetic component. The Times prominently featured the stories of seven men and women who have been diagnosed with it on the Health section of its highly trafficked web site.
Among them: Dr. David Rye, a neurology professor at Emory University who has both studied the condition and suffered from it.