All language subtitles for Inside.The.Human.Body.2011.E04.Hostile.World.720p.BluRay.x264.DTS-HDChina.eng

This athlete is a champion

of one of the world's
most spectacular sports:

bull jumping.

This boxer survives being hit by a fist

travelling with the force
of a third of a tonne.

And this man is hoping
that surgeons will replace

his damaged limbs with
another man's hands.

Can we Twitter
that the surgery has started?

Their stories are
part of your story...

the story of what makes you human.

Hidden deep beneath your skin
is an extraordinary universe...

where billions of tiny
powerhouses generate energy.

Where vast forests digest food...

and where the tiniest movements
set off violent chain reactions.

This is a fantastic voyage through
the most complex organism on Earth...

the human BODY

(?) Meet James ???

I deliver packages for a living.
I'm a glorified postman.

James is a cycle courier,

one of the riskiest
occupations in the world.

It's a fact there's
danger about it, but...

that's what draws people to it.
I suppose it's the adrenalyn factor.

Research has shown
that cycle couriers

are three times more likely to be
injured than those in other jobs.

And danger can come
from any direction.

People aren't looking for cyclists
so pedestrians will cross the road...

(? ) people will turn left on you,
people will do U turns...

(?) ???

You're not in people's conscience.

You've got to expect
things to happen.

James's life might be
more hazardous than most.

But the fact is we all
live in a hostile world,

a place full of unexpected threats.

how we defeat the environment

This programme will
show you just how hard

your body has to work
to keep you safe.

Because, as well as protecting you from
the more obvious physical dangers...

it must shield you from
potentially lethal solar radiation.

It must keep in check the 10 trillion
bacteria that cover your skin.

It must deal ruthlessly
with any invaders...

and, if things go wrong,
immediately heal the damage.

Your body does all of this without
your having to think about it.

And it works so effectively

that some of us will live for a
hundred years or, perhaps, more.

I've got 21 great-grandchildren now.

I even have
one great-great-grandchild.

Esther Turtle is in
her hundreth year.

And she is in great shape.

In the morning,
when I first get up, I do my yoga

to exercise every muscle in
my body that I can think of.

And then I go up on the roof

where I take a walk
for a half an hour without stopping.

So then I have a glass of orange
juice, oatmeal and black coffee -

no sugar, no cream, no toast.

Over the last century,
she's fought countless wars

against largely unseen enemies.

Well, as a child,
I had all the usual diseases.

I had tonsillectomy
and measles and chickenpox.

As I grew older, I had to have
a hysterectomy at one point

and I had an appendectomy
at another point.

And then about 15 years ago,
I had breast cancer...

And I think that's about all
the diseases I've had.

Esther leads a healthy life and
has access to excellent medical care.

But perhaps the real reason she has
lived so long is because, like you,

she has her own private army
working for her around the clock.

Right now,
as you watch this programme,

your immune system is fighting
to keep you safe,

every single breath you take.

This tiny speck of dust is alive.

It's a fungal spore.

The air you breathe
is filled with them.

Each spore is looking for
a warm, moist home.

And it's just found one...

in your lungs.

Every minute, you breathe in a couple
of spores just like this one.

Once it reaches a quiet corner
of your lungs,

the spore implants
and begins to grow.

Left unchecked,
it would fill this entire chamber,

stopping oxygen passing
from the air into your blood.

Within weeks, you'd be dead.

Fortunately,
your body is armed and ready.

It unleashes macrophages,

prowling, remorseless,
marauding killers.

They follow a chemical signal
given off by the fungus.

The spore is doomed.

Unnoticed and unappreciated,
the macrophage saves your life.

And it does this breath after breath,
day in and day out.

But your body is not just protecting
you from tiny, invisible things.

It's also designed to help you cope
with more obvious threats...

like a fast-moving stick...

a huge hockey player...

or a hard object coming at you
at nearly 100 miles an hour.

To survive in the fast-moving
world of ice hockey,

you have to be able to
react in an instant.

Professional goalkeeper Steve Lyle can
react in less than a fifth of a second.

That's just the blink of an eye.

So how does he do it?

Even before his
opponent hits the puck,

Steve is already beginning
to work out where it might go,

based on his opponent's
body position.

Then he has to work out how fast
the puck is moving and where it's going.

His brain has to produce an action
plan before it actually does anything.

All based on memories of previous
occasions when he saved goals.

Then, finally, his brain
tells his body what to do.

Everything up to now has been
done entirely subconsciously.

It's only at this point that
the goalie becomes consciously aware

that the puck has been hit.

What Steve is doing is something
that you do instinctively

any time you are confronted
by unexpected danger.

But reaction times
are only part of the story.

You also rely on muscles.

You have 640 muscles that together
make up 40% of your body weight.

Cristian Seraa relies on his muscles
rather more than most of us do.

He's a champion
of a truly terrifying sport.

He jumps over bulls for a living.

Cristian has no illusions
about the dangers.

(in Spanish) One can fracture a bone,
can end up in the cemetery,

or stay a year away, in bed.

His fragile body
regularly goes head-to-head

with half a tonne
of charging muscle.

So, every day, on his farm in eastern
Spain, he hones his muscles.

In this form of bullfighting,
known as recortes,

it's the men who risk their lives -

the bulls are unharmed.

But no less bad-tempered.

First in the ring are some
of Cristian's competitors.

They're not allowed
to use weapons or armour.

Instead, they rely on speed and
agility to dodge a gruesome goring.

It's now Cristian's turn
to enter the ring.

(?) As a champion "recortador",

he takes some of
the greatest risks.

Risks that, even with
all his experience, he finds scary.

(speaking Spanish)
Fear is always present.

Fear keeps us safe.

It's good to be a little afraid.

Escaping uninjured will depend
on how his muscles respond

in the next few moments.

We all have two different kinds
of skeletal muscle fibres.

Just like a chicken,
we have dark and white meat.

You use your dark, slow-twitch
muscles for things like walking.

They work tirelessly
for long periods of time,

so they need a constant supply
of oxygen-rich blood.

But you also have
white, fast-twitch muscles,

which allow you to react quickly.

And these are the muscles
Cristian is about to use

to try and leap over the bull.

When you're dodging a bull,

you don't have time to
burn oxygen for power,

so these fast-twitch muscles
do something ingenious.

They reply on a rapid
chemical reaction

that allows them to constrict four
times faster than slow-twitch muscles...

which gives Cristian just
enough time to escape.

(in Spanish) It is a feeling of power,
of which I am superior to him.

My heart is filled with happiness.

I dance with the bull.

In some sports, muscles and
reaction times aren't enough

to keep you out of danger.

Being hit with a force
of up to a third of a tonne

means that getting damaged

is an occupational
hazard for a boxer.

Fortunately, your body is incredibly
good at healing injuries.

And that's something that
boxer Johnny Greaves relies on...

because he gets hit a lot.

Get in close with this kid, cos he's
tall, mate, you know what I mean?

Tonight, Johnny is fighting a man

who's three inches taller
and five years younger.

I'm a professional opponent.

I fight week in, week out.

I get all the tough jobs

against all the up-and-coming boys,
the good ticket sellers.

I basically get paid to fight
and I do a good job.

For Johnny, boxing isn't just a
sport, it's his livelihood.

I'm here primarily to pay my bills
and to keep my kids OK,

so, obviously, that's the
first thought in my mind,

is bringing home the bacon.

Johnny has fought
in 53 professional fights.

But he's only won two of them.

He knows that tonight
he's likely to get hurt.

Johnny works hard
to avoid serious injury.

He ducks and dives,
dodging punches.

He works at a frantic rate
to keep himself a moving target.

But as Johnny tires,
his defences begin to fail.

And then he gets injured.

The delicate blood vessels that wind
through the fat cells under his eye

are destroyed by a punch.

As the vessels burst,
blood cells rush out.

On the outside, the full extent of
Johnny's injury is not yet obvious,

but a black eye is about to form.

What his body does next is normal
and yet also utterly remarkable.

It begins to heal.

A repair crew is already on the way.

Travelling in the blood are some
very special cell fragments.

Called platelets,
they are there to stop the bleeding.

They extend arms
that stick to each other

and form a net to catch
the leaking blood cells.

This clot plugs the hole,
and the bleeding stops.

But this is just the start.

Soon after the fight, Johnny's eye
turns red and begins to swell.

It's caused by fluid seeping
into the tissue around his eye.

The fluid is coming from tiny pores
in the blood vessel.

This is not a sign of damage.

It's actually a rather clever
form of defence.

The force of the flow would
stop any infection in the wound

from travelling into the bloodstream

trapping it in the tissue instead.

Johnny's eye isn't just puffed up.

His bruise has now turned
a lurid shade of purple.

The colour is the result
of decaying blood cells

trapped outside the
circulatory system.

Here, they can't survive.

Now, Johnny's body starts
to clear up the mess.

Scavenging macrophages
sweep through the tissue

and gobble up the dying cells.

Inside the macrophages,

the chemical that gives blood cells
their red colour, haemoglobin,

begins to break down.

It's this that gives the bruise
its familiar cocktail of colours.

As the haemoglobin breaks apart,

it transforms into
different-coloured chemicals.

Over time, the colour shifts

from green to yellow
and finally to brown.

As the macrophages leave,

they draw the coloured
chemicals away from the skin.

Healing is now complete.

Two weeks later, and Johnny
is fighting fit once again...

so he can step back into the ring
to earn his living.

Your body is brilliant
at dealing with damage.

But prevention is
always better than cure.

And when it comes to prevention,

the most impressive
defence you have comes

from the largest organ in your body:

your skin.

Each centimeter of your skin is built
from 10 million individual cells

and bristles with
over a hundred hairs.

It acts as a formidable barrier against
the threat of the outside world.

That's something that Jamie
Donaldson is counting on.

OK, first step -
identify the value of the last...

- Decimal...
- Place.

She's a maths teacher,
but she leads a double life.

Could this be simplified any more?
Yes or no?

CHILDREN: No!

Jamie is about to run
the equivalent of five marathons

in the hottest and driest place
in North America -

Death Valley.

It's neat to see what the body
is really capable of doing and

to prove that you can do a lot
more than you think you can.

Here, temperatures can reach
56 degrees Celsius.

Water evaporates faster
than almost anywhere else on Earth.

CROWD: Three, two, one, zero!

Jamie has entered
the Badwater Ultramarathon.

She'll be running across
this inhospitable environment

for over 24 hours non-stop.

And Jamie will be relying
on her skin

to protect her from
the brutal heat.

In the desert, you never really do know
what is going to happen to your body.

It's extremely hot.

Jamie's greatest
threat is dehydration.

Every step, the parched air

is trying to suck the moisture
out of her body.

What stops her shrivelling
up like a prune

is a substance made by the skin

that most of us casually
wash away every morning.

At the base of every hair on your
body is a tiny sebaceous gland.

It squeezes an oily
substance called sebum

onto the surface of your skin.

It makes your hair greasy...

and gives you spots.

But this oil also makes
your skin waterproof.

Waterproofing is essential
in hot, dry climates...

because sebum
doesn't just keep water out.

It also stops bodily fluids from
evaporating into the desert air.

(?) As well as the heat, Jamie also
has to contend with a ??? the sun.

Getting sunburned would seriously affect
her chances of finishing the race.

So her dedicated
sport group made sure

she's constantly
covered and protected.

Ultraviolet radiation
in the sun's rays

breaks down the DNA in skin cells.

Your skin responds by flooding the
area with blood to repair the damage.

This heats up the skin and produces
the familiar redness of sunburn.

But there can also
be long-term damage.

By next morning,
Jamie is still running.

She's covered 135
miles in record time.

(?) Alice ???, new women's record and...

(?)???, here's your medal.

Most of us have some
control over how much

we expose ourselves
to the sun's rays.

But there's another threat that
we can never get away from.

Each square centimetre of skin has
ten million bacteria camped out on it.

The tissues inside your body would
provide a nice, juicy environment

if only they could get in.

What keeps them at bay is the way
your skin cells lock together,

just like armour plating.

But your skin is also
pushing outwards.

As new layers grow,
the old surface layers peel away...

carrying a cargo of
microbes with them.

But this also means you lose
30,000 skin cells every minute.

By this time next month,

you'll have replaced all
the skin on your body.

Your skin is an
absolutely fabulous barrier,

but, unfortunately,
it does have holes in it.

Like your eyes... and your nose.

And these are very
vulnerable to infection.

In particular,

viruses use our own defence mechanism -
sneezing - against us.

A sneeze is all it takes
for microbes to jump

from one person to another.

The main reason you sneeze

is to clear your nose of dust
and other fine particles.

But as you blast out air
at up to 100 miles an hour,

you also spray a
fine mist of droplets

containing millions of microbes...

anything up to 12 feet away...

giving the microbes the perfect
opportunity to find a new host.

If they do get inside you,
your body quickly responds

by mobilising an army
of white blood cells.

These are called phagocytes.
They eat things.

In this case,
they are packing little green blobs,

which are fake bacteria.

In just one tiny drop of blood

there are around 400,000
of these white cells.

And this is just a tiny fraction

of the forces your body can
call on to fight infection.

- Do you know that letter?
- Yes.

Rowan O'Brien is three years old.

He should be at school,
but he's feeling unwell.

What letter's that one?

- Muh!
- That's it. That's it.

He's got the flu.

No, that's not right.

No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

Inside him, his body
is about to engage in all-out war

with one of the most infectious
viruses on the planet.

Flu viruses start by attacking the
tissue at the back of your throat.

But strangely enough,

it's not only the virus
that will make you feel ill,

it's also your own immune system.

Your body's first response
to infection is fever.

The flu virus thrives

at your normal body temperature
of 37 degrees Celsius...

so you raise your temperature
by a few degrees.

It's just enough
to slow the infection down.

Meanwhile, an army of phagocytes
flood the infection site.

They have come to
feast on their enemies.

But instead of
destroying the viruses,

the fighters are themselves infected

and are forced to self-destruct.

As their bodies pile up,
they form the basis of your snot.

Rowan's symptoms
are getting worse.

You're a little bit hot.

It's a sign the battle
inside him is hotting up.

His body has launched
a second wave of attack -

the killer Ts.

They home in on the throat cells that
have been infected by the virus.

They administer the kiss of death,

destroying the viruses inside.

But this approach has its cost.

The killer Ts are causing
heavy collateral damage.

Rowan is feeling the effects.

He's got a really sore throat.

Despite everything,
the virus remains undefeated.

Now, your immune system tries
a completely different approach.

Instead of trying to destroy
the virus head-on,

it releases a cloud
of Y-shaped antibodies.

These are specifically produced
to destroy this strain of virus.

They coat the viruses,
making them stick together.

Now, they are easily swept up.

Rowan finally starts
to feel better.

And with his energy restored,

he can go back to doing
what three-year-old boys do best.

As well as working hard to
protect you from infection,

the human body is very versatile

when it comes to dealing with
other medical emergencies.

It can mend damaged nerves,

plug leaking blood vessels,

regenerate broken bones,

heal your skin

and repair ripped muscles.

Your body is so adaptable,
it can even be encouraged

to accept and repair
part of someone else's body.

Buns.

Let's see...

Put the buns right here.

Richard Edwards is a chiropractor.

He has a loving wife and family,
and considers himself a lucky man.

He doesn't even know what food is!

But five years ago, Richard was
caught in a freak accident.

It really is hot, guys.

He found himself trapped
in a burning vehicle.

Everything was on fire behind me.

My electrical system had burnt up,
and I couldn't unlock my door.

I couldn't even manually
lift up the lock.

I was having trouble breathing

and I quickly looked over
to the passenger side

to see if it was unlocked,
so maybe I could get out that way,

and as soon as I looked over
to the passenger door,

I remember seeing
the window on the passenger side,

it just exploded into several
thousands of pieces of glass,

and I'd already started...
burning alive.

Every time I open one of these
things, the heat,

- that blast from the heat...
- Yeah, I know.

is a memory of...

the moments in the truck, but...

The heat from the fire
left 30% of his body severely burnt.

With medical help, most of his
injuries have now healed,

but his hands were
too badly damaged.

OK, guys.

He can't button buttons.

He can't do his
zipper very easily.

I have to look around the rest room
and find a guy that I think is,

maybe the most,
or the least... masculine...

and ask, "Would you mind
unzipping my pants for me?"

This fire has really
put a stop to my life.

I want to be able to go back
to work and grab an X-ray

and separate one sheet of X-ray
from another

and talk to patients about how I
can help THEM again instead of...

checking out of life like I have
done for the last couple of years.

Richard has decided
to undergo a radical operation.

It will push his body's ability to
heal to the absolute limit.

A very unusual package
is being delivered

to a hospital in Louisville,
Kentucky.

With just a few hours' notice,
Richard is rushed to the hospital.

He's about to have a
double hand transplant.

His hands will be cut off and
replaced with someone else's.

97 over 54 is his blood pressure.

It's the first time something as
radical as this has ever been attempted.

OK, so have you guys decided
who's going on what team to start?

The operation will be masterminded
by Dr Warren Breidenbach.

There'll be four teams
working simultaneously at one point.

There'll be two teams on each
of the arms that we're preparing,

that is the patient himself,

and there'll be two teams working on
the arms that have come from the donor.

The new hands have come from
someone who died in the last 15 hours.

It's a race against time to connect
them to Richard's blood supply

before they begin to deteriorate.

Okey-dokey. That arm is ready
to shake, rattle and roll...

To give Richard's body the best
chance of accepting the new hands,

both the donor's blood type
and bone structure

were matched to his.

Did we Twitter
that the surgery has started?

Both donor hands are on the table.
Preparing for bone work.

It's going to be a long night,
everybody.

The first thing they do

is prepare Richard's damaged
hands for amputation.

His nerves and blood vessels
need to be carefully preserved.

Let me have the knife.

The same is done
to the vessels in the donor arm.

Hand is being scraped
and sterile dressing.

Don't throw any of
those veins away, ok?

Save the veins as though
they're gonna work.

Once his hands are off,
there is no going back.

The donor arm came off at 5.30.

So, we're five-and-a-half
hours now,

so, we wanna try to
get some blood into it.

Very carefully,
the new hands are attached,

vessel by vessel, nerve by nerve.

- Nerve, I need nerve.
- Ok, nerve.

Surgeons are now
preparing the arteries.

Next, 54 bones and 56 muscles
have to be connected

so that Richard will be able
to control his new limbs.

- Find the motor branch.
- Yes.

Dissect it back in here,
connect it to that.

After 18 hours of
painstaking surgery,

the new hands are attached.

Hand looks pretty pink.

Everything looks good.

Pretty cool, huh?

The patient is now in recovery.

Our first double hand
trasplant is complete!

Signing off for the day.
Thanks for following along.

Just ten hours after surgery,

Richard sees his new
hands for the first time.

It will take months
for his body to complete

this remarkable repair job.

- Thanks, Doctor.
- You're welcome!

You can go ahead and
let this go down.

But astonishingly,

Richard is already able to take
control of someone else's hands.

Let's go ahead and get him moving.

Pull that down.
That's good and strong.

Pull that down.

That's pretty strong.

Remember the one we tightened up?
It's good and strong.

Pull it down, little finger.

That's strong.

It's amazing.

I'm very thankful to have
a new pair of hands.

I've waited a long time for this.

Now and for the rest of his life,

Richard will have to take drugs
to suppress his immune system

and prevent his body rejecting
the new, alien hands.

Yep, I think it looks excellent.

But if the drugs work...

his bones will fuse together
with the bones of the new hands.

They will join as one.

Blood will flow from his body
into the donor tissue.

And the nerves of his body will grow,
connect and control

what were once a stranger's hands.

Three months later, Richard is
trying out his new accessories.

Back to the tough stuff!

He's gained some sensation
in his new fingers,

and these hands
are already changing his life.

It hits us, I think,
every single day about how amazing,

how miraculous it is to have a
brand-new set of hands on me.

When we thought I was...

never going to be able
to have another set of hands,

I had to live with what I had.

His body is beginning
to take full control of them.

They really look like
they belong and fit to him.

Oh, yeah, they feel like my hands...

in... in every way.

- She loves them.
- These are his hands to me and...

At least I can see
that in her eyes!

Look at the wrist. The wrist...

Richard's recovery is impressive.

- Ooh, nice catch!
- "Bet she won't get that."

A real tribute to
his own resilience

and to the skill of his
medical and surgical team.

I can hold her hand again.

- Now I can do it.
- All right.

We are, each and every one of us,
biological marvels,

able to adapt to a
challenging world.

Although we have our differences,

we are fundamentally all the same.

We smile using the same muscles.

We see the world
with the same eyes.

We have the same hearts...

which work around the clock
to keep us alive,

tirelessly pumping blood,

picking up oxygen from our lungs

and transporting it
to every cell in our body.

We have such remarkably
efficient life-support systems

that we can survive on water
and just a small amount of food.

And that nourishment feeds the most
complex brains that have ever existed.

Each of our brains
has 100 billion cells

that are constantly processing
a mass of information,

rushing in through our senses.

We all began the same way,

when a precious egg
and a single sperm came together,

creating a new individual:

you.

As our hearts began to beat,
we grew from a tiny embryo...

into the 100 trillion cells
that make up every one of us.

I played with Humphrey
Bogart and Leslie Howard...

And your body is so
well put together

that with a little careful maintenance
it can last a hundred years or more.

Just like Esther Turtle.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk

reviewed/corrected for this release by:
Tio Beto from Brazil

tiobetonh@gmail. com
... =Peace Through Anarchy=...