Health
Is your sleep interrupted by leg cramps? Here are some of the most surprising causes
If painful leg cramps have woken you up in the middle of the night, the condition can be both scary and confusing.
You may think it’s due to the position you’re sleeping in — but there’s more to know about nighttime leg cramps than that.
In original interviews, two physicians gave a “leg up” on the causes and treatments of nighttime leg cramps.
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Here’s what to know.
What are nighttime leg cramps?
More commonly known as a charley horse, a nighttime leg cramp is when the muscles in a leg quickly tighten up.
A charley horse is a sudden, painful and involuntary muscle spasm or cramp, noted health.com. While it usually happens in your leg, especially the calf, it can actually happen in any muscle.
“Sometimes the cramps last a few minutes, but I have had patients whose leg cramps lasted longer than that,” said one doctor. (iStock)
A person can be woken up as a result of painful leg cramp symptoms, said Mike Sevilla, M.D., a family physician with Family Practice Center of Salem in Salem, Ohio.
“Sometimes the cramps last a few minutes, but I have had patients whose leg cramps lasted longer than that,” he said.
Who gets nighttime leg cramps?
Nighttime cramps become more common as people get older and unfortunately, can become more frequent, Sara Austin, M.D., an associate professor of neurology at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, told Fox News Digital.
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She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.
If you experience frequent leg cramps, your primary care doctor should test to make sure your thyroid hormone level is normal.
Most of the time, nighttime leg cramps just happen — but there are some causes, she said.
Being human. “That’s the most common cause. We all get them sometimes,” she said.
“If you notice that the cramps are associated with weakness in the extremity, or if they consistently interfere with the way you walk, you should bring that to your doctor’s attention.” (iStock)
Hypothyroidism. If you experience frequent cramps, she said, your primary care doctor should test to make sure your thyroid hormone level is normal.
Dehydration or very intense exercise. “Make sure if you sweat excessively or are dehydrated that you drink more fluids, preferably with some electrolytes,” she cautioned.
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Restless leg syndrome. Those who have restless leg syndrome seem to describe some of their symptoms as cramps, she said.
“If you consistently feel like you wake up after being asleep for several hours and you feel symptoms in your leg — cramping, tingling, burning, aching — that are relieved by getting up and walking around, you might have restless leg syndrome,” Austin said.
“If you find that you’re having two to three cramps every night for weeks to months, you should check in with a neurologist.”
Speak with your doctor for further evaluation.
Can leg cramps be a sign of serious conditions?
Some neuromuscular diseases are associated with more frequent muscle cramps, but this is not common, said Dr. Austin.
“They are very rare,” she said.
There are also prescription medication options for nighttime leg cramps, “but patients should check with their family physician before considering prescription meds.” (iStock)
“But if you find that you are having two to three cramps every night for weeks to months, you should check in with a neurologist,” she advised.
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“Or, if you notice that the cramps are associated with weakness in the extremity, or if they consistently interfere with the way you walk, you should bring that to your doctor’s attention.”
How can someone treat leg cramps?
When leg cramps begin, start with a gentle stretching of the muscles, said Sevilla of the Family Practice Center of Salem.
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“In addition, what may help symptoms include massage of the area and application of a heating pad.”
When leg cramps begin, start with a gentle stretching of the muscles. (iStock)
Also, he said, “consider over-the-counter pain medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen.”
There are also prescription medication options, “but patients should check with their family physician before considering prescription meds.”
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.
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As colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50, a new report reveals some surprising shifts in the incidence of the disease.
Although rates of CRC have been declining among seniors, those 65 and under are facing a rise in diagnoses, according to a report titled Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2026, from the American Cancer Society.
Adults 65 and younger comprise nearly half (45%) of all new colorectal cancer cases — a significant increase from 27% in 1995, states the report, which was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The disease is rising fastest among adults 20 to 49 years old, at a rate of 3% per year.
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50. (iStock)
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. Although that age group is eligible to receive routine screenings, just 37% do so.
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The report also revealed that rectal cancer is on the rise, now accounting for about one-third (32%) of all CRC cases — an increase from 27% in the mid-2000s.
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“After decades of progress, the risk of dying from colorectal cancer is climbing in younger generations of men and women, confirming a real uptick in disease because of something we’re doing or some other exposure,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report, in a press release.
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. (iStock)
“We need to redouble research efforts to understand the cause, but also circumvent deaths through earlier detection by educating clinicians and the general public about symptoms and increasing screening in people 45-54 years.”
It is projected that 158,850 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed this year, and that the disease will cause 55,230 deaths, per the report.
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More than half of CRC cases can be linked to high-risk behaviors, the researchers said. Those include lack of nutrition, high alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of exercise and obesity.
“These findings further underscore that colorectal cancer is worsening among younger generations and highlight the immediate need for eligible adults to begin screening at the recommended age of 45,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society.
When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%. (iStock)
“The report also shines a light on the crucial importance of continued funding for research to help discover new therapies to treat the disease and advance patient care.”
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When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%, the report stated.
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A new study suggests that middle-aged men may be more vulnerable to faster biological aging, potentially linked to exposure to “forever chemicals.”
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, could impact aging at the cellular level.
PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in nonstick cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics and other consumer products, the study noted.
Their chemical structure makes them highly resistant to breaking down, allowing them to accumulate in water, soil and the human body.
Chinese researchers analyzed blood samples from 326 adults enrolled in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2000.
A new study suggests that middle-aged men could face accelerated biological aging at the cellular level due to exposure to PFAS. (iStock)
The researchers measured levels of 11 PFAS compounds in participants’ blood and used DNA-based “epigenetic clocks” — tools that analyze chemical changes to DNA to estimate biological age — to determine how quickly their bodies were aging at the cellular level, the study stated.
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Two compounds, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), were detected in 95% of participants.
Higher concentrations of those chemicals were associated with faster biological aging in men of certain age groups, but not in women.
“People should not panic.”
The compounds most strongly linked to accelerated aging were not the PFAS chemicals that typically receive the most public attention, the researchers noted.
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“The associations were strongest in adults aged 50 to 64, particularly in men,” Dr. Xiangwei Li, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author, told Fox News Digital.
“While this does not establish that PFAS cause aging, it suggests that these widely present ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to molecular changes related to long-term health and aging.”
The study found that two of the compounds were detected in 95% of participants, and higher levels were linked to faster biological aging in men ages 50–64. (iStock)
Midlife may represent a more sensitive biological period, when the body becomes more vulnerable to age-related stressors, according to the researchers.
Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, may influence biological aging markers, potentially increasing vulnerability to environmental pollutants.
While Li said “people should not panic,” she does recommend looking for reasonable ways to reduce exposure.
That might mean checking local drinking water reports, using certified water filters designed to reduce PFAS, and limiting the use of stain- or grease-resistant products when alternatives are available.
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Meaningful reductions in PFAS exposure will likely depend on broader regulatory action and environmental cleanup efforts, Li added.
The researchers noted that midlife could be a particularly sensitive stage, when the body is more susceptible to stressors associated with aging. (iStock)
Study limitations
The researchers outlined several important limitations of the research, including that the findings show an association, but do not prove that PFAS directly causes accelerated aging.
“The study is cross-sectional, meaning exposure and aging markers were measured at the same time, so we cannot determine causality,” Li told Fox News Digital.
The study was also relatively small, limited to 326 adults age 50 or older, which means the findings may not apply to younger people or broader populations.
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Researchers measured PFAS levels using data collected between 1999 and 2000, and today’s exposure patterns may differ.
Li added that while PFAS is known to persist in the environment and the body, these results should be validated through larger, more recent studies that follow participants over time.
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