Diseases

A documentary-horror film exploring the phenomenon of 'Sleep Paralysis' through the eyes of eight very different people. These people often find themselves trapped between the sleeping and waking worlds, totally unable to move but aware of their surroundings while being subject to frequently disturbing sights and sounds. A strange element to these visions is that despite the fact that they know nothing of one another, many see similar ghostly 'shadow men.' This is one of many reasons many people insist this is more than just a sleep disorder". This documentary digs deep into not only the particulars of these eight people's uncanny experiences, but it also explores their search to understand what they've gone through and how it's changed their lives. Directed by Rodney Ascher, he chose to focus on sleep paralysis as it had happened to him in the past. The film's crew initially began approaching participants via message groups, videos and a half dozen books that had been written.

The inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a boy of considerable promise, until he developed autism at the age of 3. He was unable to speak until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films. This emotional coming-of-age story follows Owen as he graduates to adulthood and takes his first steps toward independence.

Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory, fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music's ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it.

It is 1918 and the end of WWI. Millions have died, and the world is exhausted by war. But soon a new horror is sweeping the world, a terrifying virus that will kill more than fifty million people - the Spanish flu. Using dramatic reconstruction and eyewitness testimony from doctors, soldiers, civilians and politicians, this one-off special brings to life the onslaught of the disease, the horrors of those who lived through it and the efforts of the pioneering scientists desperately looking for the cure.
Narrated by Christopher Eccleston, the film also asks whether, a century later, the lessons learnt in 1918 might help us fight a future global flu pandemic.

How can we cope with the tricky coronavirus now rampant worldwide? As the pandemic tightens its grip on the world, there are important unanswered questions about this novel virus: Why does this infection spread so rapidly from people with no symptoms? Why do some people become critical while others don't? Will a definitive treatment be found? The underlying key to these questions lie in our immune system. Immune cells are microscopic warriors, combating viruses and another pathogens.
Through the high-tech 'eyes' of next-generation microscopes and computer-generated imagery, we will see how our immune defense corps combat against microbes and what mechanism is expected to help develop treatment.

The world is affected by an obesity epidemic, but why is it that not everyone is succumbing? Medical science has been obsessed with this subject and is coming up with some unexpected answers. As it turns out, it is not all about exercise and diet. At the centre of this programme is a controversial overeating experiment that aims to identify exactly what it is about some people that makes it hard for them to bulk up.