Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany, has launched an initiative to educate people on the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), a sleep disorder affecting 10% of US adults and characterized by frequent involuntary limb movement during sleep periods.

In addition to a direct-to-consumer advertising campaign and an online physician-patient resource (www.rlsrest.com), the company’s awareness program includes an RLS Simulator, a multi-sensory experience simulating a “day in the life” of an RLS patient and the first such machine of its kind.

“Though more doctors today are aware of RLS, unless they suffer from the condition themselves, they don’t necessarily know what it is like for their patients to live with RLS symptoms,” said Sheila Connolly, a founding member of the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation and an RLS Foundation support group facilitator.

To further educate the medical community, Boehringer Ingelheim will provide thousands of physicians with the opportunity to experience the RLS Simulator at multiple medical meetings.