Sleep-related eating disorder: Relationship to amnesia and a review of its treatment

Sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) is characterized by a disruption of the nocturnal fast with episodes of feeding after an arousal from nighttime sleep. The recurrent eating occurs with varying degrees of diminished awareness, including amnesia. SRED is recognized as a parasomnia (i.e., a behavioral disorder accompanying sleep) and is often associated with other sleep disorders, particularly Sleepwalking, Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2005). Importantly, amnestic SRED has been linked with sedating medications, in particular the widely prescribed benzodiazepine receptor agonists such as zolpidem (Morgenthaler & Silber, 2002). Zolpidem-associated SRED is particularly common among patients who have sleep initiation and maintenance difficulties related to RLS.