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Shocking Mysteries That Confuse Doctors

— Dr. Mike reacts to a soccer prodigy with no feet, snake bite scams, and more

MedpageToday

In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO, who goes by "Dr. Mike" on social media, reviews several unique medical cases.

Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):

Varshavski: As a primary care doctor, I have watched episodes of "Body Bizarre" before and learned a lot. Let's see what we can learn together. Let's get started. Peewop.

Narrator 1: Outside of Rio de Janeiro, there is a 12-year-old boy named Gabriel Ferreira Muniz, who is a soccer prodigy, even though he has no feet.

Varshavski: Wow, sick.

Narrator 1: Gabriel's feet simply didn't develop in the womb, a condition called apodia, which came as a complete shock to his mother.

Sandra Muniz: When he came out, they lifted him up. I saw there was a part missing. I just thought I was a bit dizzy. We never thought he'd walk.

Varshavski: The human body is very resilient. They'll figure it out.

Narrator 1: To the doctors' surprise, the bottoms of Gabriel's legs naturally developed into mini feet.

Varshavski: I'm curious what the bottom of his foot looks like from an x-ray perspective. Is there still a tibia and fibula there? Is there an ankle? Is there a calcaneal bone, like the heel bone?

Narrator 1: That positive attitude has taken Gabriel far. Two years ago, Superclub Barcelona flew him over to Spain...

Varshavski: Wow, sick.

Narrator 1: ... to meet the team, including star forward ...

Varshavski: That's so good.

Narrator 1: ... Lionel Messi.

Gabriel Muniz: It was thrilling because I had a bunch of famous players in front of me. My heart stopped.

Varshavski: Medically I'll say that's probably not what happened. It looks like there is not a pain restriction from this situation. I'm sure there is some, like, skin irritation, but it looks like functionally he is keeping balance very well.

Narrator 2: In the northern Indian town of Ghatampur lives 8-year-old Kajol. Unlike most children, she has developed an unusual fondness for one of India's most deadly snakes.

Varshavski: Oh.

Narrator 2: The cobra.

Varshavski: Ooh, you don't want to mess with the cobra. They are fast. They are actually pretty shy from what I've read, that they don't really like humans. They don't bite to be aggressive -- they bite out of fear -- and their venom is unique in that it's a neurotoxin, so it causes paralysis of muscles. That paralysis, if it happens to your respiratory or cardiac muscle, could be deadly.

Narrator 2: Kajol has grown up surrounded by cobras because her father is a snake catcher. To practice her skills, every day Kajol and her brother, Gulab, head out into the fields.

Varshavski: That's actually one of the most common places cobras hang out. A lot of people think it's like in the jungle, but they are actually in agriculture centers more because they like to feed on mice and the things that are running around in the field.

Narrator 2: Kajol and her brother make their way home.

Varshavski: Look at it. Its hood is out. It's looking at her.

Narrator 2: Suddenly, there is trouble.

Kajol: He's biting me. He's biting me.

Varshavski: Okay. I mean, I'm not a snake expert, but oh, man. I mean, the most important thing here is getting her to a hospital that has anti-venom.

Narrator 2: Instead of taking her to a hospital to be treated, Kajol's father treats her at home using a mixture of traditional herbal remedies ...

Varshavski: Oh, man.

Narrator 2: ... that have been used for centuries.

Varshavski: That doesn't look like a good remedy. This is putting her life at risk.

Kajol's father: This is medicine from the jungle. It has been passed down by my father.

Varshavski: He is like rubbing superficially the thing; the venom is inside of her.

Gulab Khan: She has been bitten before. It doesn't worry us anymore. We believe if these medicines are given in time, they can save people.

Dr. Manish Sachan (village doctor): Because that girl was in constant touch of that snake and a snake has been biting her regularly, that particular bite -- which was not of that severe nature -- has created an antibody in her body.

Varshavski: No one in medical school teaches you about repeat snake bite victims. The first snake bite, what do you do? Try and get a picture of the snake that bit you. Immediately go to the hospital, show them the picture, describe the snake, hope that they have an anti-venom and hope that they have respiratory support if something else happens.

Narrator 2: Snake expert Kartik Satyanarayan viewed the video of Kajol being bitten.

Kartik Satyanarayan: Of course, she does get bitten; that's quite visible. But the bite site is indicative of teeth that the cobra has, which might have caused the wound and caused the bleeding. But that does not mean there are any fangs to actually inject the venom in.

Varshavski: What?

Satyanarayan: From the way she is handling the cobras, it's quite clear that they are all defanged. The venom glands are possibly also certainly removed.

Varshavski: What?! So, it's a scam?

Narrator 2: It is illegal to own snakes without a license. It's also against the law to defang them. Like snake charmers pretending to hypnotize and tame cobras, Kajol and her father may be guilty of stretching the truth to promote the family business.

Varshavski: Wow, that's so messed up. Now, I'm sure that's not a kind process. I felt like we called a lot there. The first scene I was like, "Look at that thing. It's about to bite." Then it bit. Snake Ponzi scheme.

Watch the video above for more.

, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 12 million subscribers.