Chat Ed : Hello and welcome to our live webchat with Pathologist, Professor John Lee from Anatomy for Beginners. In the third part of their week-long series, controversial anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens and pathologist Professor John Lee revealed the science and beauty beneath our skin.
Professor John Lee : Hello all...
jase : hello, thank you for a fascinating series
Paul Brownson : hello
The live model is bu : Hello Prof
Tina_05 : heya
Professor John Lee : I'm sure that watching these programmes will raise lots of questions in your minds and I'll do my best to answer as many as I can in the next half an hour or so.
Tristram : Prof Lee, do you ever wonder of the history of the person you dissect?
LK : hello - we thinks its great!!!
Professor John Lee : Yes, in fact it's normal for me as a pathologist to have a very detailed, clinical history whenever I perform an autopsy. The clinical histories of the individuals shown in the programmes are known to the Institute of Plastination, but obviously cannot be released for confidentiality reasons.
fletch_law : great show, Are the people in the audience just general medical students or do you get viewers interested in the anatomy watchin live?
Terry : Hi awesome insight of the human body and how it works well done
Professor John Lee : The audience was an invited audience, composed of local medical students and individuals who had enrolled in Dr von Hagens’ body donor programme. In other words they have agreed that when they die, their bodies will be donated to the Institute for educational purposes.
Dotties : brilliant!!! i am a student nurse and this was better than most lectures
Sam : Yes, absolutely fascinating! Thank you
Halo_147 : fantastic show, really gets an insight into the human body
Geraint : congratulations on a fascinating series, what do you find most fascinating about the human body?
Professor John Lee : The more one studies the human body, the more fascinating things one finds out. In terms of the most intriguing part, I think my vote would go for the brain - since this is the organ that makes us uniquely human.
Cowbags : What happens to the bodies after you have finished with them?
rykuro : What happened to the bodies after the shows were produced ?
Terry : What Happens to the body when you have finished with on the show?
Mikeldub : How are the bodies disposed of after the autopsy?
Professor John Lee : The bodies in these programmes belong to the Institute of Plastination and as I understand it, will be plastinated.
Dominic C : great show, congratulation, very educational
Umberto : Do you feel Dr Von Hagens is too theatrical when carrying out anatomy?
Professor John Lee : Everyone has their own style... For me the most important thing is that the educational message comes across and I think, overall in these programmes, this is achieved in a sensible and reasonable way.
sancho : Dr, have you donated your body to the institute?
Professor John Lee : sancho - in a word, no. I need to wait until my children are older so that I can ask them if they would mind.
kafkaf : how long have the bodies been dead when they are used on the show?
Martin_W : How are the bodies prepared before dissection?
deluxemist : very educational it was as well
Professor John Lee : It will be within a year of death. The first two programmes’ bodies had been frozen, while the bodies in the third and fourth programmes had been preserved in formalin.
benjamin : has this ever been done on TV before?
craig lea : Why is this recorded in Germany and not in Britain?
Professor John Lee : As far as I know this is the first time that anatomical demonstrations of this type have ever been attempted for television. The reason why it was filmed in Germany was two-fold: first, this is the location of von Hagens' Institute for Plastination where the technical equipment and bodies were available. Secondly, recent changes to the law mean that it would now be virtually impossible to make this sort of educational programme in the UK.
clair : yes, why has there been such a fuss made of live autopsies?
Professor John Lee : It is interesting that compared to the (what I can only describe as) hysteria over the public autopsy, that seems to have been replaced by a much more sensible general attitude to these programmes.
holly : i think that it is very educational and a good thing for people to watch
beaner : i aint eating liver or kidney from now on
Professor John Lee : I'm pleased that the general understanding of the importance of the public seeing anatomy for themselves seems to be becoming more widely accepted.
frankie : do you think these films would ever be shown in schools
Laura2 : where are you based, do you work at a university?
tom : Can you tell us a little bit about your background, prof?
Mikey142 : What interested you in pathology?
Professor John Lee : I think there are many biology students who would find them interesting and informative and I personally don't see any reason why they should not be.
lee : it would benefit the schools to show these films I think
Professor John Lee : I trained in medicine in London, subsequently did a PhD in Physiology and then specialised in Pathology, currently I work as a Consultant Pathologist in Rotherham and I am Professor of Pathology at the Hull York Medical School.
Luke- : did you know that over 70% of the human population thinks that the stomach is in the centre of the abdomen, near the umbilical region
Professor John Lee : Hopefully many people will know better after tonight's programme!
jan : It’s amazing how many organs fill the body in so little space! really enjoyed the autopsy? well done !!
Professor John Lee : Yes, appreciating how much is packed into such a small space may help people realise how easy it is for things to go wrong when we are injured.
Jim Gilbert : Is reproduction the last episode?
zoelb : will there be a further series in more detail?
Professor John Lee : Yes, Jim. There is an additional programme summarising the first three programmes, which is being shown at 9pm on Sunday.
Orangehead : Will there be an anatomy for intermediates programme?
Louise Mackey : I'm currently studying anatomy and physiology. The programme is superb, I would like to see future series for intermediate and advanced anatomy, is this possible?
Professor John Lee chuckles at Orangehead, time will tell! Write to Channel 4 and express these views.
Lissy : I really enjoyed the show I have personally been having problems with my bowels and this has made me understand it better thanx!
Batty1981 : what made you want to be involved in a programme like this
craig : what is dr von hagen like to work with?
Professor John Lee : Good, good Lissy! I have always been concerned with the public understanding of science and I believe that the more that people generally know about all branches of science, including anatomy, the better it is for everyone.
miles_2005 : i think it is amazing how well you articulate your knowledge and explain the processes with such clarity.....
Rachael Eldritch-Boe : Knowledge is indeed a liberating thing
leanne peters : it is kind of scary to see what you look like inside for real! At the same time though it is just so exciting
Professor John Lee : As a doctor I think it is particularly important for people to be aware of anatomy since this is the territory in which medicine works and it may help people reach a more reasonable set of expectations about what medicine can and cannot achieve. These programmes were unscripted, live demonstrations of anatomy. We had worked out the general order in which we were going to do things, but the programmes were delivered spontaneously as in a lecture theatre.
Carina : While filming did anything go wrong or not to plan!?
Julie : seeing blackened lungs is enough to put you off smoking!
Professor John Lee : Obviously these are quite challenging conditions to work under but I felt that the collaboration went well. Some aspects of the dissections were challenging and took slightly longer than we had imagined, but basically I think we managed to demonstrate everything that we intended to.
jamal : how are gallstones formed?
Professor John Lee : When the gall bladder concentrates bile, gallstones can begin in the same way that a crystal may begin to form in a super-saturated solution. Once the gallstone has started to form it can then grow progressively.
RichKiwi : Can you describe why people get irritable bowel syndrome?
Professor John Lee : IBS is a term which covers a wide range of symptoms and in all probability a substantial variety of causes. The good thing about it is that while it may be an irksome condition, it is not life threatening and people often find their own ways of helping the symptoms to settle down.
lyndsay : what happens when we get diarrhoea?? why does the large intestine stop absorbing water??
Professor John Lee : In a nutshell, toxins can affect its ability to absorb water, but also the resultant 'flushing through' of the bowel contents helps to remove those toxins from the body.
stu9ba : in your opinion should medical students be allowed to perform dissections in the manner shown on your show?
Donz : Seeing the inside of the colon for real beats acetates of endoscopy pictures
Mich : What do your uni students think?
Professor John Lee : Standard dissections are performed on bodies lying on a table, for obvious logistical and practical reasons. I believe that performing dissection is an important part of transforming book knowledge into real working knowledge and I find it very worrying that in approximately half the medical schools in the UK students now perform very little or no dissection. In my view this represents an unacceptable downgrading of the standard of teaching that trainee doctors are receiving.
bawbaw : what causes cirrhosis of the liver
Professor John Lee : Cirrhosis of the liver is a type of chronic scarring that results from chronic exposure of the liver to toxins. The most common of these is long-term excess intake of alcohol. However, one bit of good news is that modest intake of alcohol is better for you than being a tee-totaller, a glass of wine or two a day and you're actually better off as it reduces cardio-vascular disease.
shaun : red or white wine?
BarryHevan : Does beer work?
stemesh : WOOHOO! ALCOHOL!
Professor John Lee : As I understand it, it's the alcohol that counts - rather than the vehicle!
mark ab : Prof. How much of the digestive system is it possible to live without?
Professor John Lee : It's possible to live without your entire large bowel, though you will need a colostomy. A large amount of the small bowel can be removed at about 3/4 and the remainder will regenerate sufficiently to maintain adequate function. If the pancreas is lost enzyme supplements will need to be given in order to allow digestion to take place.
rik : what's the most preventable disease that you come across?
Professor John Lee : All the diseases that are attributable to smoking - a large proportion of heart attacks and peripheral vascular disease, a proportion of strokes, 95% of lung cancer and a large proportion of several other cancers as well. The Government has recently missed a massive public health opportunity as they dilly-dally over stopping smoking in public air spaces.
daniel t : Professor, if you could alter one part of the human body's design, what would it be?
Professor John Lee : Experience in all areas of medicine tells us that fiddling with a design that has evolved over millions of years can often have unintended consequences. I guess one area where our bodies have not yet caught up with our evolution is in our backs, where our upright posture puts a lot of strain on a structure that evolved to bear weight on four legs. But I'm not sure how I would actually change it.
H10000 : What are you're top three books for anatomy students?
Professor John Lee : My tops three books.. a difficult one really... it depends on the level and detail that you need. When I was a student I used to look at several books in the library and decide which one I preferred before heading to the bookshop. There are lots of excellent anatomy texts out there.
Chat Ed : Our half hour is almost up, so last few questions now...
SuperAlly : I feel queasy when watching, why is this?
Danny1 : Would you yourself like to be dissected one day?
Professor John Lee : Interesting question SuperAlly, I think it's partly because we often don't think of 'ourselves' as being so intimately related with our bodies. It's a feeling that many or most people have when they first see dissection or an operation, but that usually passes with experience.
John-E-C : strange glunky yucky looking tissue is sooo important
Professor John Lee : Danny, it's not my greatest ambition, but I don't suppose I'd have any personal objection so long as my surviving relatives were also happy with the idea.
alison1982 : i am looking forward to tomorrows programme
gadget : I hope we will see you on our screens soon Prof
Mich : Keep up the good work
bluesuew : What is the most useless part of the human body?
lottery_dreams : I am a little apprehensive about watching tomorrow's show as it features a baby
Professor John Lee : Probably the right answer to that is that everything is there for some reason, even if we don't yet have a clear idea of what that might be.
H10000 : Thank you for your response and the show was fantastic and highly informative, thank you.
Thiena : wonderful stuff
mev : thanks Prof
pierre : brill show
andyyyy : thanks professor
Professor John Lee : Thanks very much for all your questions. Obviously we could only scratch the surface in a session like this, but I hope the series will stimulate many of you to go and find out more for yourselves about human anatomy, physiology and pathology.
Bladerunner : Thanks Prof & C4
mike : Thanks to Dr Von Hagens too
Professor John Lee leaves the room
