with gender identity issues have gender dysphoria because they have no distress. This can be seen in children and adults. People with gender identity issues often make the decision to live as their preferred gender. They take transgender hormone therapy and sometimes have surgery to alter their genitals. They change their name, dress, and lives so it matches their true identity.
HUNGER AND SATIETY Hunger is a natural drive to eat and is necessary for survival. There are biological mechanisms in place with regard to hunger but there are also social, economic, and cultural issues that play a strong role in the entire process of eating. Some of these influences will cause eating disorders, which are discussed at the end of this section. The stomach contracts when a person isn t eating, leading to hunger pang. There are certain chemical messages that travel to the brain to begin the drive to eat. The same thing happens when the blood glucose level drops. After eating, the person feels sated or full. Eating behaviors discontinue and the hormone leptin is released, which is the satiety hormone. On the other hand is ghrelin, which is released by the GI tract in order to signal hunger. Parts of the hindbrain and the hypothalamus regulate hunger. Hunger is initiated by hormones like ghrelin, which triggers eating. After eating, the individual is sated and leptin is released so there is no more drive to eat. A person s body weight is partially genetically determined and partially based on the environment. The number of calories eaten and the number of calories consumed are part of the environmental input into body weight. Fat is made when there is an excess of calories eaten versus what is burned off. The metabolic rate is also part of this. Metabolic rates differ from person to person. In general, body weight is relatively stable, with the weight remaining within a narrow range. This has led to the set-point theory, which indicates that every person has an ideal body weight, which cannot easily be changed. This ideal body weight is genetically predetermined. People who lose weight do not have a change in their metabolic weight.
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