Autopsy: Life and Death

In the second programme of the series von Hagens and Lee take a look at cancer. They illuminate the difficulties of diagnosing and treating a disease that is a result of the bodys own cells multiplying uncontrollably. Von Hagens dissects a woman who died of bowel cancer to reveal the site of the primary tumour and the other parts of her body that it affected. He also reveals the silent spread of tumours in the frozen body of a woman who died from breast cancer.

In the last programme, von Hagens and Lee illustrate the process of ageing. To reveal the dread process for us all to see, the two scientists compare the bodies of two live models - an 84-year-old and a 24-year-old. Von Hagens then compares sections from the cadaver of a woman over 80 years old with the same sections from a much younger woman. By revealing the internal extent of ageing damage, von Hagens and Lee demonstrate the widespread effects of ageing and explain why we cant life forever.