West Bengal teen lives in a pond: Anant Ambani intervenes, airlifted to Mumbai

For the past few days, the story of a 16-year-old boy named Iqbal Sheikh, who hails from Murshidabad in West Bengal, has been circulating on social media. For the past few years, he has apparently been living in a pond constantly, due to a rare medical condition. Apparently, the boy says his skin feels a severe burning sensation and that he feels at ease in water. The viral video shows him eating snacks while his body is submerged in a pond. As per reports, his family had taken him to various hospitals and healers, but nothing improved his condition. 

While his exact medical condition is not clear yet, many doctors suspect 'Erythromelalgia,' a condition which causes excess blood flow in the body. Unfortunately, the chronic condition has no cure and can worsen with time. There are different types of erythromelalgia, and its symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic, include:

a) Redness on skin
b) Mild tingling to severe burning sensation on skin
c) Increase in skin temperature
d) Swelling on skin
e) Itching on skin
f) Sweating in body parts where people typically don't
g) Coldness on skin between the flares
These symptoms can appear on either side of the body.

What causes this condition
In many people, erythromelalgia happens due to genetic mutations and is passed down in families. There are also many primary cases with no clear inherited cause. In some people, faulty sodium channels also cause blood vessels to widen and trap blood in the skin, resulting in erythromelalgia. After Anant Ambani's intervention, Iqbal has been admitted to Mumbai's Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.