Night Eating Syndrome: Report of a family case

• A patient seeking psychiatric services reported having night eating syndrome (NES).
• Several other family members who engaged in similar patterns of eating were identified.
• Further assessment of the family identified seven cases of NES and of these, four had co-morbid psychiatric symptoms.
• All cases experienced nocturnal ingestions as a common symptom.
• All cases originated from the same couple of origin.

Night eating syndrome (NES) represents a circadian delay in the pattern of eating. As there are genetic links for other eating- and circadian-based disorders, it is likely that there is a genetic basis for NES as well. We present a family case study of three identified patients and their extensive family history of NES and co-morbid mood disorders. This case report suggested that NES may have a heritable feature, particularly nocturnal ingestions. Of the seven identified cases, four had co-morbid mood disorders, and all descended from a couple with bipolar disorder and delusional disorder. More work is needed to understand the extent of genetic influence on NES, and the relationship between NES and other psychiatric disorders.