Inside the Human Body

Having watched the first two episodes over the past few weeks i finally managed to finish the last two episodes; Hostile Environment and Building your Brain. The documentary, presented by Michael Mosley, was very interesting and provided an insight to the way the human body works, using graphic images and presentations of the eye and various diseases.

The third episdoe (Building your brain) dealt with the brain and showed how interconnected the whole body is, through the brain. It takes nearly 20 years to develop and the brain cells you have at birth are all the brain cells you will ever need. Not only did the episode deal with development of the brain but also the strength and adaptability of the human body. Key examples given in the documentary include the ability of people in certain coastal areas to see underwater with fine detail. They have trained their eyes to decrease the pupil underwater so as to absorb less light but in greater detail. Furthermore the ability of a young babies in central Africa to walk at only nine months old, as their mothers begin to train them from a young age to use their legs to gain balance.

Furthermore, it clearly showed the different stages of the body's defence mechanisms demonstrated with amazing pictures through the example of a black eye. Upon injury the blood vessels in the surrounding area burst causing blood to rush out and cell fragments to come in to help clot the hole and stop the bleeding. The would turns red and swells due to the fluid that has seeped out of the blood vessels and soon turns purple to indicate dying blood cells. Finally macrophages are called in to destroy the cells which slowly changes the colour of the wound to yellow and then brown.

The documentary is packed full of details and facts about the amazing human body such as the fact that sebum causes the skin to get greasy and keeps it waterproof. Additionally dark skin is adaptation to exposure to the sun as it helps to protect the body against harmful UV radiation from the sun. Overall the documentary was amazing as it provided key information and facts into the human body all the while providing case studies to help illustrate the point, and amazing high definition graphics and images to further illuminate the point and try to recreate the amazing feats of the human body.

However the fact that attracted my attention and changed my view of medicine was what Michael Mosley said towards the end of the documentary, which was that medicine is all about providing the body with help to heal itself as at the end of the day it is the body that mends broken bones, damaged nerves, blood vessels and repairs ripped muscles.