Gender Identity Disorder - "Gender Identity Disorder is defined as an incongruence between the physical phenotype and the gender identity [1], that is, one’s self identification as male or female. The experience of this incongruence is termed Gender Dysphoria 78) "
See also http://www.symposion.com/ijt/soc_2001/soc_03.htm

 

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Transsexual - A person who has the strong feeling, often from childhood onwards, of having been born the wrong sex. They suffer from the most extreme form of Gender Identity Disorder.

Department for Constitutional Affairs
Justice, Rights and Democracy
http://www.lcd.gov.uk/constitution/transsex/policy.htm 

"Transsexualism or 'gender dysphoria' is a widely recognized medical condition that the Government's Chief Medical Officer has confirmed may properly be treated under the National Health Service as well as privately"

What transsexualism is not

1. Transsexualism is not transvestism or cross-dressing for sexual thrill, psychological comfort or compulsion.

2. It is not an orientation towards people of the same sex.

3. It is not related to paedophilia.

4. It has nothing to do with drag queens.

5. Transsexual people do not choose their gender identity. Transsexualism is an overpowering sense of different gender identity rather than any sexual orientation: transsexual people may be heterosexual, gay/lesbian or celibate.

6. It is not a mental illness. It is a condition considered in itself to be free of other pathology (though transsexual people can suffer depression or illnesses like anyone else).

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Transgender - A very difficult term to define as it has been used as a catch-all phrase. The common denominator seems to be that "transgender" is a label which attempts to define people who, to varying degrees and in various ways have a need to cross the great divide of gender as defined by society. However, it is not associated with the individual’s sexual orientation as transgendered persons may be heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual or nonsexual. What is pertinent to this discussion is that some transgendered people who do not identify with being transsexual suffer from milder forms of Gender Identity Disorder.

From - Cognition and Emotion Lecture 7 Handout "Thus, a brain that is entirely male or female hardly exists, these terms represent the extreme poles that are rarely realized in nature. In reality all sorts of intermediaries are realized in male and female bodies."

From - The Free Dictionary.com  "Originally, the term transgender was coined in the 1970's by Virginia Prince in the USA, as a contrast with the term “transsexual” to refer to someone who does not desire surgical intervention to "change sex," and/or who considers that they fall "between" genders, not identifying strictly to one gender or the other, identifying themselves as neither fully male, nor female."

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Intersexed person - From ISNA(Definitions) " Simply put, intersexuality is a set of medical conditions that features "congenital anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system." That is, a person with an intersex condition is born with sex chromosomes, external genitalia, or an internal reproductive system that is not considered "standard" for either male or female "

 

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Diethylstilbestrol, or DES - The first synthetic estrogen. It was developed in 1938 by English biochemist Sir E. Charles Dodds. Between 1948 and 1971 DES was prescribed to pregnant women after researchers erroneously concluded, without proper testing, that it helped prevent miscarriages. 1971: DES was taken off the market, 33 years after it was first developed. DES was marketed under a variety of names .

This link is an advertisement from a medical journal, June 1956 for Desplex 25mg tablets.

Note :
[1] Keep in mind that DES is not a natural estrogen but a chemical which mimics it under certain conditions.
[2] The effects of DES are now known to be  Non Monotonic. This means that different levels of exposure can have very different effects 16) 185).
[3] DES was later used in the treatment of prostate cancer. "DES inhibits luteinizing hormone secretion by the pituitary, thereby inhibiting testosterone secretion."
[4] The chemical structure of DES is similar to the chemical stilbene, used in the manufacture of dyes and optical bleaches and as a phosphor. This same chemical structure was also used to produce the anti-estrogen drug, tamoxifen.
[5] DES was intended to act like estrogen. It is at least as powerful as the most potent natural estrogen.

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Endocrine Disruptor - Man-made synthetic chemicals and natural phytoestrogens (naturally occurring plant- or fungal metabolite-derived estrogen) that act on the endocrine systems of humans and animals by mimicking, blocking and/or interfering in some manner with the natural instructions of hormones to cells. The list of endocrine disrupting chemicals is extensive, some of the more commonly known are PCB's, dioxin's and the infamous DDT. An extensive source of information on endocrine disruptors can be found at Our Stolen Future .

An over all explanation of receptor binding can be found at Environmental Estrogens and other Hormones.

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For definitions of the following, see: DES Action Canada (DES Sons)
Epididymal Cysts
Microphallus
Testicular varicoceles
Hypospadias
Urethral meatal stenosis
Prostate enlargement
Urinary Dyssynergia
Gynecomastia

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