Medicine At the Edge

A New Zealand Naural History Documentary
Medicine at the Edge is a 2001 documentary that explores the extreme conditions where new medicine is rapidly increasing in demand. The documentary reveals situations where advanced medicine is necessary for survival. This documentary uncovered the turmoil inflicted on the body in extreme situations such as, the great depths of the oceans, the high altitude of mountains like Mount Everest and, the effects of zero gravity in space on the body. The medical applications needed for these extreme conditions are highly advanced and are still being developed to this day. This documentary is an eye-opener for any avid science fan, dealing with various biomedical issues. The 50 minute film depicts solutions to problems that can be anticipated in conditions where there is still much to learn about practical medicine.
This film was a documentary about extreme environments so the scientific views and aspects were educational and thought provoking. Deep sea diving was introduced first as an extreme condition. The harsh environment of the deep sea can have a fatal toll on any diver.
The main killer of deep sea divers is of course decompression sickness, or The Bends. The Bends is caused by micro bubbles that form in the blood and block the bloodstreams in certain parts of the body. Nitrogen gas being breathed in by the diver gets absorbed in the tissue of the body. As divers go deeper, more nitrogen gets absorbed, decompressing by stopping regularly on the ascending dive allows nitrogen bubbles to expel, sometimes not all nitrogen bubbles can be expelled. A hyperbaric chamber uses oxygen therapy and simulates the pressure experienced at a deep dive. Breathing pure oxygen allows the bubbles to recompress out of the bloodstream. A main and critical area that can be affected by The Bends is the spinal area. The Bends can seriously damage spinal nerves which can paralyze the whole body. The Bends may be fatal to divers because of too much air pressure but it is quite the opposite in high altitude situations. On Mount Everest there is not enough air pressure, only about one third of normal air pressure, so a common condition known as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) affects many climbers. The thin air and low pressure can allow longs to collapse and leak fluid. Dexamethasone, is an injectable steroid that lessens the effects of altitude on the body so as to allow the patient to descend. Relocating to a lower altitude with thicker air allows the patient to recover. This captivating film has showed the A New Zealand Naural History Documentary
Medicine at the Edge is a 2001 documentary that explores the extreme conditions where new medicine is rapidly increasing in demand. The documentary reveals situations where advanced medicine is necessary for survival. This documentary uncovered the turmoil inflicted on the body in extreme situations such as, the great depths of the oceans, the high altitude of mountains like Mount Everest and, the effects of zero gravity in space on the body. The medical applications needed for these extreme conditions are highly advanced and are still being developed to this day. This documentary is an eye-opener for any avid science fan, dealing with various biomedical issues. The 50 minute film depicts solutions to problems that can be anticipated in conditions where there is still much to learn about practical medicine.
This film was a documentary about extreme environments so the scientific views and aspects were educational and thought provoking. Deep sea diving was introduced first as an extreme condition. The harsh environment of the deep sea can have a fatal toll on any diver. The main killer of deep sea divers is of course decompression sickness, or The Bends. The Bends is caused by micro bubbles that form in the blood and block the bloodstreams in certain parts of the body. Nitrogen gas being breathed in by the diver gets absorbed in the tissue of the body. As divers go deeper, more nitrogen gets absorbed, decompressing by stopping regularly on the ascending dive allows nitrogen bubbles to expel, sometimes not all nitrogen bubbles can be expelled. A hyperbaric chamber uses oxygen therapy and simulates the pressure experienced at a deep dive. Breathing pure oxygen allows the bubbles to recompress out of the bloodstream. A main and critical area that can be affected by The Bends is the spinal area. The Bends can seriously damage spinal nerves which can paralyze the whole body. The Bends may be fatal to divers because of too much air pressure but it is quite the opposite in high altitude situations. On Mount Everest there is not enough air pressure, only about one third of normal air pressure, so a common condition known as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) affects many climbers. The thin air and low pressure can allow longs to collapse and leak fluid. Dexamethasone, is an injectable steroid that lessens the effects of altitude on the body so as to allow the patient to descend. Relocating to a lower altitude with thicker air allows the patient to recover. This captivating film has showed the difficulties faced by the body in high pressure and low pressure environments but what about conditions without any air or air pressure.
In space, the body muscle can significantly reduce strength because of the zero gravity effect. This causes serious problems for any prolonged duration in space, like a mission to Mars. Because there is no gravity the bones and muscles become weak very easily so astronauts have to exercise regularly every day, but even that is not enough. Simulating gravity is one approach that may provide the solution to stop the loss of bone and muscle strength. The idea involves creating a centrifuge which by spinning creates artificial gravity. Also, new pharmaceutical drugs used for Osteoporosis are being investigated to see if they are taken once every 6 months in outer space if they will reduce bone loss. This documentary also suggests the likeliness of performing surgery in space. If astronauts were to stay in space for 3 years, it is said that there would be an over 50% chance that surgery or medical care might be required sometime. This film shows a new approach to surgery. The most advanced technique dealing with surgery in space is robotic surgery. A system has been designed that contains a console containing a screen with a camera to see the area of operation, a voice command headset for the robotic arms and camera, and surgical tools connected to the console that control the robotic arms. This revolutionary approach has proven to be more efficient and safer. The console has been used to perform heart bypass surgery. The procedure is more easily performed because the robotic tools are only as big as pencils and need only two 5mm incisions to begin the surgery. The operation is controlled by a surgeon at a console but the actual surgery performed by the robotic arms surpasses that of human dexterity. Another innovation with the bypass surgery by robotic arms is that the scalpel uses sound waves to locate and bloodlessly cut away a good artery to replace a faulty one. The robotic arms make surgery much more minimal and allow a speedy recovery. The console can be operated from remote distances and it is hoped to use the robotic arms in space while operating from the console on Earth.

Overall this film will open your eyes to science and medicine. As humans push the limits of our environment the body becomes more fragile to risk. Medicine must follow mankind wherever we go. The film is very educational but very interesting as well and will give a very good insight into developing techniques in biomedical research. Some may be disappointed due to lack of Hollywood action and unrealistic science, but as a documentary this film provides innovating and spectacular views of future developments in science, and will keep any viewer fully captivated.
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