Episode 7 Operation Ouch!

-I'm Dr Chris.

-And I'm Dr Xand.

-We are identical twins.

-Twins!

'Do you know your body does loads of amazing things every day

'without you even realising it?'

Welcome to my poo factory.

'We're going to show you how.'

Smell my armpits!

'We've got gobsmacking experiments...'

Wow!

'..mind-bending body tricks...'

-THEY LAUGH

-'..and real medical mysteries...'

It's tickling the tip of my nose.

'So, are you ready to see what you're made of?'

-Coming...

-Up...

-Today...

-On...

-Operation...

-Ouch!

'Find out what happens inside your body when you eat.

'I'm on call with a rapid response team...'

I'm not moving you off this sofa until you're pain-free.

'..and Xand goes too far in mind-benders...'

Bar, far.

That's crazy.

'..but first...'

Accident and Emergency is the hospital department of surprises.

And there's nothing more surprising than this case.

'Waiting in Alder Hey Accident and Emergency with her mum

'is five-year-old Erin with a pinkie that's not too perky.'

It feels a little bit painful

and I can't get them all together.

Oh, dear! What happened there, then?

Erin was playing with her friends, Lily, Harry and George.

Sounds fun.

They were climbing.

-Ooh, climbing a mountain?

-No, Xand.

-Climbing the walls?

-No, Xand. They were climbing the stairs.

Uh-oh! Everyone knows not to play on the stairs.

The boys were trying to stop the girls from getting past,

but in the scuffle, Erin's little finger got pulled back.

Ouch! SIREN WAILS

-I can't even bend it.

-That's no good.

Best get that funny finger checked out with an X-ray.

Nice and still for me like a statue.

Excellent, OK.

Whilst waiting for her X-ray results,

Erin's doing what all poorly people do.

MUSIC: Gangnam Style by Psy

Yes, she's dancing.

Well, she's a better dancer than you, Chris.

She certainly is.

That's enough now, Erin.

Time to hand over to Nurse Practitioner

Julia Maxted to check out

that painful pinkie.

So, first of all, your shoulder and your elbow, are they all OK?

-You can move those around?

-Yeah.

-You bet she can.

MUSIC: Gangnam Style by Psy

-It's sore there, OK.

-ERIN INHALES SHARPLY

-That's... There.

-Is that the worst bit?

OK, do you know what we need to do now?

-What?

-Have a little look at your X-ray.

That doesn't look good.

So, what's happened is it's broken and then it's gone a bit crooked.

That's why it's sticking out.

What we need to do is to try and pull it back into a better position

so that it's not sticking out

so that then it'll heal in the right position.

And so what I think we'll probably do is get you

some special laughing gas.

Laughing gas will help relieve the pain Erin's in, especially

when straightening that finger.

I want to get the giggles.

Find out later if Erin does get the giggles and that finger gets fixed.

'Ready to see some amazing experiments?'

Yes! A triumph.

We're going to show you how your incredible body works.

Just don't try anything you see here at home.

Today, we're looking at how we power our bodies.

Now, this experiment is to show you what happens inside your body

every time you eat.

Now, Xand, what I need you to do is take that tube

and when I give you the instruction "blow", I want you to blow into it.

On blow, I go.

That's right, you go on blow.

HE COUGHS

-Xand, why did you do that?

-You said blow.

Now we have to set it all up again.

For this experiment, we're using

lycopodium powder to represent food.

OK, Xand, blowtorch on.

-Are you ready, Xand?

-Ready.

Blow.

-Wow!

-Whoa!

'So what's going on?'

The lycopodium powder has mixed with the air breathed out by Xand,

been ignited by the flame causing a chemical reaction,

which releases lots of energy.

Now, although there's no fire inside you,

chemically, this is what happens in your body when you eat.

Your food is fuel, just like the lycopodium powder,

it mixes with the oxygen and releases energy,

which is what allows you to do all sorts of things,

whether it's just breathing or running around.

But how much energy do you need

and is there such a thing as too much? Well, we're going to find out.

Your body is a bit like an engine,

so it needs fuel for all the things it has to do.

To show you what I mean, I've rigged up a simple engine system

-and I'm going to need Xand's body.

-What?

Well, no problem at all, Chris.

My body is ready at the service of science. For many years, I've...

Actually, Xand, I don't need that body.

What? But you just said...

I've got mini Xand to help me.

What? You've clamped his legs?

Is that a wire in the back of his head?

What is going on?

Mini Xand is hooked up to an engine system,

which represents what your body does with the food and drink

that you consume.

-I can do what he's doing.

-Stop it.

When you eat and drink, your body uses it to create energy.

So, with this engine,

this hose full of water represents your food and drink.

And when I squirt it onto the wheel, the wheel will turn,

creating energy, which is sent to the light bulb on mini Xand's head,

-which represents his energy levels.

-OK. So, what now?

Well, we're going to see what happens

when different amounts of the fuel are pumped through to mini Xand.

First, this is what happens to mini Xand

when he eats just the right amount of energy.

It's a bit like if you eat a decent breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You can see we have a nice balance,

mini Xand's light is on and everything is working perfectly.

Your body takes the fuel and turns it into the right

amount of energy you need for an average day.

But what about if mini Xand has had a really busy day

and he forgot to eat lunch.

That does happen.

Good question, Xand. Well, let's find out.

Now I'm putting less water on the wheel and it's not spinning,

so the light bulb isn't coming on.

-This is not good.

-Exactly.

That's what happens if you don't eat enough.

Your poor body has no energy to do what it needs to.

And as a result, you feel tired

and it can mean your body won't be able to perform

all its functions properly.

That could make him ill.

I think you need to give him some more fuel right now, Chris.

Yes, but I think we also need to see what happens

if you eat or drink too much,

like that extra chocolate biscuit

I saw you eating earlier, Xand. Let's have a look.

So, now there's plenty of energy to power mini Xand and his light bulb.

'But we're putting so much fuel in,

'it's getting fuller than it should be.'

Exactly, and that's what happens when you eat more than you need to.

Your body has to find something to do with all that excess fuel.

Something tells me mini Xand is about to change.

Well, the excess fuel creates unused energy,

which gets turned into fat cells.

Mini Xand is becoming overweight.

Oh, no! Poor mini Xand.

So, we've seen how when you drink and eat food,

your body combines it with oxygen to create energy

and that energy fuels the things you do every day.

But it's important to get the balance right

between what goes in and what you use.

Too little and you can become underweight.

Too much and you can become overweight.

But unlike mini Xand, no-one becomes too thin or too fat overnight.

It takes a long time to happen, so as long as you keep things

balanced most of the time, your body will be happy.

And of course, if you hadn't clamped mini Xand's legs,

he'd have been able to do some exercise and he'd have been fine.

-What are you doing?

-I'm taking mini Xand for a run.

But first, I'm going to buy him some decent gym gear -

a jazzy sports top, some good shorts, some sweat bands,

a pair of decent trainers...

MUSIC: Jump by Kris Kross

Xand, I thought you were kidding.

We're on call with the UK emergency services

showing you what it's really like on the front line saving lives.

On call with me is paramedic Jan Vann.

Today, I'm heading out to show you what it's like to be

first on the scene of a medical emergency.

-Can I drive?

-No.

-Can I make the sirens work?

-No.

-Can I turn the lights on?

-No.

What can I do?

You can carry the bags.

Yes, official bag carrier.

Jan alone can do ten to 15 emergency call-outs in a day,

and a new case is just in.

We've been called to see a lady

with what's called post-partum bleeding.

She had a baby a week ago and now she's bleeding.

Now, that can be very dangerous and can actually be life-threatening.

'Jan and I rush to the scene and get inside as quickly as possible.'

Hello.

'We find the patient, Jade, in a lot of pain.

'Jan starts treating her while I go to the car

'to fetch some gas and air.'

Its medical name is Entonox,

a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen.

Sometimes people use it

when they're giving birth,

but it's a really good way

of quickly getting someone

who's in severe pain a little bit more comfortable.

'I'm quickly back in and Jade is breathing in the soothing gas

'within seconds.'

Take as much as you need. Slow, big breaths in.

'At the moment, it's about bringing Jade's pain levels

'down to a tolerable level,

'so she's also given a strong painkiller directly into her vein.'

All right, we'll see if that helps, cos I want you comfortable

before we move you.

I'm not moving you off this sofa until you're pain-free, all right?

'Jan is monitoring closely exactly how much pain Jade is in.'

What pain score was you initially

-if you're a five now?

-Ten.

-You were ten, initially.

-I'd say it's about a three. I can control it.

-That's brilliant.

When we arrived, she said her pain was ten out of ten.

Now it's more like three out of ten,

so it makes it much easier to get her to the ambulance,

get her to hospital, which is where she needs to be.

'Extra help is here.'

This lady is completely different to when I arrived.

Aren't you? This is Jade.

'And Jan's finally happy that Jade's pain is down to a level

'where she can be comfortably moved into the waiting ambulance.'

How are you feeling now, Jade?

It's still there, but I can cope with it.

-Thanks, Jan, you've been a diamond.

-Not a problem.

-Thanks, guys. All the best then, Jade.

-Thanks.

-You take care, darling.

-Cheers.

In a really short space of time,

Jan managed to make a massive difference to the amount of pain

that Jade was in.

She was very anxious when we arrived

and Jan managed to calm her down,

a very difficult thing to do with someone in that much pain.

By the time she got in the ambulance,

she was looking much better.

Jade was treated at the hospital and went home the same day.

Still to come...

check out our latest mind-bending trick...

-Have we bent your mind?

-Yeah.

..learn why some people can roll their tongues...

Show me.

And join Chris at work, fighting infectious diseases.

And I'm about to show you how we do it.

Let's head back to the emergency department to catch up

with Erin and her broken finger.

You can still eat them when they're broken.

Why would she come to hospital for that?

Not chocolate fingers, Xand. Erin's broken her actual finger. Remember?

Oh, yeah. Well, let's see her get fixed.

Back in Liverpool, five-year-old Erin is in hospital

with a broken finger.

It feels a little bit painful.

Erin was playing with her friends, Lily, Harry and George.

The boys were trying to stop the girls

from getting past them on the stairs.

In the scuffle, Erin's little finger got pulled right back.

Erin's had her X-rays and now she's on laughing gas.

-SHE LAUGHS

-And it looks like it's working.

So, Nurse Julia can get to grips with that finger.

With a couple of gentle tugs, the finger is pulled back into position.

Thanks to the gas and air, Erin can't feel a thing.

Do you know what? Your finger is now back alongside the other one.

They're both together now.

They are, aren't they?

With that wonky finger now straight,

Erin has a second X-ray to check it's all A-OK.

Nurse Julia is back to deliver the results.

The orthopaedic doctor is quite happy with that.

That is good news.

With her finger fixed, Erin has to return to fracture clinic

in a couple of weeks with one final check.

-Nice one, Erin. BOTH:

-Bye.

-Now we're going to mess with your mind...

-It's weird.

..scramble your senses and baffle your brain...

-BOTH:

-In Mindbenders.

What are you doing?

For today's mind-bending trick, Xand needs warm facial muscles.

You ready, Xand? It's quite a complicated vocal procedure.

The more complicated, the better for me.

-Now, can you say the word far?

-Far.

Can you say the word bar?

-Bar.

-I think you're ready.

-Doesn't seem that complicated.

This lot are about to get their minds bent.

We're showing them a video of Xand repeating a word.

Bar, bar, bar, bar.

OK, what sound is Dr Xand making?

-Bar.

-Sheep.

-Bar, like a sheep, right?

Like a sheep, OK, yeah. All right, let's watch the next video.

Far, far, far, far, far.

-Now what sound is Dr Xand making in that video?

-ALL:

-Far.

-Does anyone think he's still saying bar?

-No.

No, he's definitely saying far.

'Are you ready to play at home?'

-OK, everyone look at the left.

-Look at this one.

Whilst looking at the left-hand Xand, what word can you hear?

Far, far, far, far, far, far.

OK, now who's hearing far?

You're all hearing far. OK, now everyone look at the right.

-Bar, bar...

-'Looking at the right-hand Xand,

'what word can you hear now?'

Bar, bar, bar, bar.

Now who thinks it's bar?

'What if we told you that only one word was being said?'

-Bar, bar...

-'In reality Xand is only ever saying the word bar.'

Bar, bar, bar...

'The Xand on the left is miming the word far.

'So depending on which Xand you look at, you hear different words...

'..even though the only word he is saying is bar.'

-I don't get it.

-Have we bent your mind?

-Yeah.

'What do you think is going on?'

-Sammy.

-Is it because that when your brain looks at one of them,

-it, like, maybe changes it.

-Sammy's nailed it.

-Yeah.

That's really good. You're lip-reading, basically.

So, even when you're hearing a sound,

you trust your eyes more than your ears.

What this trick demonstrates

is the dominance of vision over all your other senses.

-So, even though the sound you're hearing the whole time is...

-Bar.

-..when your eyes see Xand's mouth make the shape...

-Far.

..that's what you hear, but the sound hasn't changed at all.

And what's amazing about this is, it's a video of me

and I know what sound I was making and I'm still fooled.

-Mind fent.

-I think you mean bent.

That's what I said.

Wow!

We're at a theme park to solve your medical mysteries.

Xand is preparing the Ouch-mobile for his first patient.

And Chris is out in the park to answer your burning questions.

Wow, I'm impressed.

At the clinic, Xand is open for business.

Could I have the next patient, please?

First in is eight-year-old Eliot

who's had treatment for a curious condition.

Eliot, what's brought you to the Ouch-mobile today?

Well, I have yellow and rough hands

and I did have a pink tongue

and big red lips.

What's the diagnosis, Doc?

Sounds to me like a case of...

Dr Xand, it's called

Kawasaki disease.

It is called Kawasaki disease,

-isn't it?

-Yeah.

-And it is a real "itis", isn't it?

-Yeah.

So, Kawasaki disease is a very rare disease.

Only about eight in a 100,000 people get it.

Kawasaki is serious, but Eliot's recovering well after treatment.

So, if you look at the palm of Eliot's hand,

it looks like it's a bit grubby,

but that's not actually cos

-your hands are dirty. They're clean.

-Yeah.

What Eliot's got is a thing called desquamation.

And that means the cells

on the surface of his skin are dying

more than in other people's hands,

and those cells have a chemical

called keratin. And the keratin,

as the cell dies, goes yellow.

How long does it last?

Normally, it lasts a few weeks, maybe a few months.

It's quite common for people to have symptoms

that go on longer than the illness.

But in the long term, we'd expect you to make a full recovery.

-Yeah.

-Well, thank you very much

-for bringing Kawasaki disease to the Ouch-mobile.

-Thank you.

Away from the clinic, Chris is Ouch & About in the park.

Why is it that some people can curl

their tongue and others can't?

-So, of you two, who can curl their tongue?

-Both of us.

You both can, show me.

We're not exactly sure of how it works,

but it seems to be genetic.

So, you're born able to do it or not able to do it.

People who can't do it can never ever learn to do it.

If you look at your parents, one of them will be able to,

-that's where you...

-Yeah, Dad can, but Mum can't.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-OK, so you both inherited it from your dad.

-BOTH:

-Thank you, Dr Chris.

It's a pleasure.

Can I have the next patient, please?

Back at the Ouch-mobile,

ten-year-old Izzy's chompers need checking.

So, Izzy, why have you come to the Ouch-mobile?

I've got an out-of-place tooth.

-What's the diagnosis, Doc?

-Sounds to me like a case of...

Tooth-tastic.

How long have you had the tooth out of place for?

-About two years.

-Can we have a better look at it?

Can you open the eyelid on the Ouch-cam?

Now, it's an adult tooth, right?

Uh-huh.

Now, does it bother you having the tooth be wonky?

-Not really.

-Do you have any questions about the tooth?

Why is it wonky in the first place?

There are all kinds of reasons

why it might be wonky.

But one of the reasons is

that your mouth is too crowded.

And if your teeth get crowded,

then some of them get pushed out of the way

to make room for the others.

Will it go back naturally or with braces?

It might go back naturally.

We don't know with your mouth yet,

cos you've still got a lot of baby teeth

and only a small number of adult teeth.

I think it's most likely that you'd need braces

to get it back in exactly the correct position.

-Yeah.

-Well, Izzy, thank you very much

-for bringing your amazing wonky teeth to the Ouch-mobile.

-OK.

Job done for today, clinic closed.

-Chris, I'm ready!

-Ready for what?

-To come to work with you today.

Look, I've got everything I need.

I've got Mr Grumbles, obviously. He wanted to come too.

I've got a new pencil case in case we have to go to any meetings.

-I've got some snacks, cheese straws, Mr Grumbles' favourite.

-Xand, Xand,

-You and Mr Grumbles are not coming to work with me today.

-What?

What are we going to do, then?

-You're going to go to YOUR work.

-What? I'm late!

Well, Mr Grumbles and Xand may not be coming with me to work today,

but you are. Time for Investigation Ouch.

I'm wearing a special suit, but can you guess what it's used for?

# Space man... #

Oh, I know! You're going into space.

No, try again, Xand.

MUSIC: The Chain by Fleetwood Mac

OK, I've got it, you're about to drive a Formula One car.

No, Xand, wrong again.

How is he doing that with the music?

Anyway, Xand is wrong.

This is...

It's used so that doctors

and nurses can treat patients with

serious infections without getting ill themselves.

I knew that, really.

Now, you might have seen suits like this on the news

because of the recent outbreak of a very serious virus

called Ebola in West Africa.

These things make the news because they're rare,

but they're also very serious.

So, what can we do to stop them in their tracks?

Well, it's something I'm closely involved in.

So, this is the lab that I work in when I'm not on Operation Ouch!

Oh! I've always wanted to see Chris' lab.

This is my boss, Greg.

Hi, Greg.

Hi, Chris. Who's that?

That is Operation Ouch!

Hi, Operation Ouch!

Hi, Greg. Come on, Chris, you've got work to do.

Now, I study a virus called HIV,

but scientists like me study all viruses

using really similar techniques to work out how

to treat and prevent diseases. And I'm about to show you how we do it.

An infectious disease like a virus is similar to a burglar

who's found exactly the right spanner

to break into your cells' security system and infect them.

Ha-ha, got you.

-Scientists like me...

-Oi!

..want to find out which part of the virus spanner unlocks the cell.

Then we can stop the spanner working

and create medicine to make people better.

ALARM RINGS

To show you how we do it,

I've created my own infectious disease demonstration.

I'm going to start with a real virus, but there's something else.

Now, to understand how viruses work,

we need to make mutants.

To make a mutant, I take my original virus and change one thing

about it by changing the shape of the spanner.

Today, I'm making two different mutants -

mutant one and mutant two.

They are both the same as the original virus.

Except I've made a different change in each one

in their spanner to see if that change stops that spanner working.

I then add each of these samples to healthy human cells to see

which one is able to infect them.

OK, so now the moment of truth.

First, I'm going to show you what uninfected cells look like.

So, these are healthy cells

with no virus on them.

They're nice and stuck down to the plate,

and there are lots and lots of them.

Now cells that have been infected with the original virus.

Can you see? All the cells are clumped up

and they're floating around, there are fewer of them.

Then I turn on a special light and the cells glow green,

which tells me they've been infected by the virus.

We know this virus is working really well.

It has exactly the right spanner to get inside these cells

and infect them and make them sick.

Time to see what's happened with mutant one.

Can you see that?

The cells are floating around.

And just like the original virus,

they're all green.

So, this mutant, the first mutant, still has a working spanner.

It can get inside those cells and infect them and make them sick.

Now let's check mutant two.

They look really healthy and there are lots of them,

and when we put on the special light,

none of these cells are green.

So, the spanner of mutant number two virus is no longer working.

It's not able to get inside the cells, infect them,

turn them green and make them go sick.

So that's great. We've now discovered which bit of the spanner

is the important bit for getting inside cells.

Curing a disease doesn't just happen in a day.

I've given you a demonstration of how we go about it.

But sometimes it takes a long time to find a right mutation,

and there are lots of diseases that we still don't understand how

they infect human cells.

We don't understand how their spanners work, if you like.

But research like this has led to some major breakthroughs

that saved a lot of lives.

So now you know what fantastic work Chris does

when he's not on Operation Ouch! Good work, bro.

-Let's head back to Accident and Emergency...

-Go on.

-..for another curious case.

-Go on.

Well, in Accident and Emergency,

-seven-year-old Jago is in with his mum.

-Go on.

I cut my head.

Right, how did that happen?

I had my feet on my chair and I fell back.

Go on.

I leaned back and because it took a long time to fall I tried to

lean forwards, but it was heavier than me, so it tilts backwards.

OK, well, lets find out more.

Jago and his pal Zander were waiting patiently to play a game of

squash, but they soon got bored and started climbing on their seats.

Oh, I bet they were pretending to be mountain goats, Chris.

Hm, dangerous.

Or clowning around in the circus.

Even more dangerous.

Or maybe they were on a space walk.

No, Xand. Jago's seat tipped backwards

-and he bashed his head on the wall.

-Ouch!

And then I started screaming. Ahh!

Quite dramatic.

Examining Jago's bashed bonce is

Dr Helen Stewart.

First, Dr Stewart does some tests to make sure that Jago's brain

is functioning correctly.

Good reflexes, Jago.

Brain's good, but what about that noggin?

-Ow!

-Sorry that's your hair. I'm just...

-That's my hair.

After some of Jago's hair is removed,

the doc can finally see the wound.

That's actually...quite big.

He's got a cut that's about 1.5cm in length,

but the edges are quite straight and come together quite nicely.

So, it's quite deep, so I thought it might need a stitch,

but actually, we'll probably be able to glue the wound shut.

There's a red bloody bit there.

-Nice hair, Jago.

-It's like werewolf hair.

-CHRIS AND XAND:

-Werewolf hair?

-THEY HOWL

Stop it.

Fixing Jago's head is

Sister Anna Cowlishaw.

A quick clean and then we'll stick it back together with glue.

Quick snap for the family album.

Look away if you're squeamish.

The edges of Jago's wound are held together and a few spots of

special skin glue are applied.

-Has it closed?

-You're done.

Let's have a look. Great job, Sister Anna.

Jago can go home now and his head will be better in about five days.

And what has Jago learned?

Not to climb on the back of a chair.

Sounds like a really good lesson, yeah.

-You said it, Mum.

-BOTH: Bye.

Bye.

Next time on Operation Ouch!

Find out what you got up to inside your mum...

This little boy is breathing entirely through his belly button.

It's sweet grabbing time in Mindbenders...

Oh, what did you do?

And learn how your body gets fixed after a burn.

My little finger, it was actually welded onto this bit here.

We'll see you next time for more...

Operation Ouch!

Did you go anywhere nice on your holidays?

-Uh-huh.

-What have you been up to today, then?

-MUMBLES:

-Going on the rides.

Just speak a bit more clearly, I can't understand a word

-you're saying, Izzy.

-On the rollercoasters.