Night Eating Syndrome Due to Stress, Not Hunger
 (NY, Reuters Health, 2/11/02)

Dr Grethe S. Birketvedt of the University of Tromso in Norway and her colleagues studied patients with "Night Eating Syndrome" which is characterized by weak daytime appetite, insomnia and increased nighttime appetite. When they injected the study participants with corticotropin-releasing hormone, which normally is released in response to stress and triggers other hormones, they found that night eaters exhibited a weaker reaction than their counterparts, leading them to speculate that chronic stress had worn out their bodies' ability to respond.