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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People who regularly indulge in midnight snacks may not know it, but they may be suffering from a disorder known as night eating syndrome. According to scientists, the condition is characterized by light eating during the day, followed by excessive eating throughout the evening and into the night, with some people even waking up after they've gone to bed to eat more food.
Now researchers at UT Southwestern in Dallas are helping to explain what's happening. Their study, conducted in mice, suggests people may be reprogramming their natural body clocks to expect food during the nighttime hours.
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They arrived at that finding after changing the eating habits of mice, who usually feed after dark and sleep all day. The mice were placed on a 12 hour light/dark cycle, with feeding time occurring in the middle of the light portion of the cycle. Then they examined the brains of the mice for genes known to trigger the natural circadian rhythms of waking, eating, and other bodily functions.
Researchers found the change in the eating schedule turned the genes on in an unexpected area of the brain. Even after the mice went without food for two days, the genes continued to turn on in that area, still expecting to receive food at the inappropriate time.
The authors believe these findings might have implications for late night snacking, which has been linked to obesity. "This might be an entrance to the whole mysterious arena of how metabolic conditions in an animal can synchronize themselves with a body clock," reports study author Masashi Yanagisawa, M.D.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online July 31, 2006
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