The former truck driver had been experiencing unexplained incidents for 20 years.

“I kept passing out,” the 64-year-old Williams said. “I’d feel like I was sweating to death and then it would come on fast. I’d go completely out. One time I fell nine feet out of my truck. Another time, they thought it was heat exhaustion. nobody really knew what was wrong.”

In April, Williams had a “silent heart attack.” he had also had strokes on both sides of his body — a rare occurrence. during his stay at Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center in Haines City, doctors found the arteries leading to his heart were partially clogged and inserted stents.

After examining Williams and learning about his strokes, interventional cardiologist Irfan Siddiqui, M.D., wanted to learn more about how Williams’ heart was functioning.

The doctor ordered an MRI, an ultrasound and a transesophageal echocardiogram (an ultrasound image obtained via the esophagus that provided a clearer image of Williams’ atria – the two upper chambers of the heart — and his heart valves).

Results indicated Williams had three holes between the two upper chambers of his heart, a defect since birth.

“Although ASDs are present from birth, there are usually no associated symptoms, and they can go undetected until adulthood. In some patients, the defect is discovered incidentally during a chest X-ray that reveals enlargement of the right side of the heart,” he said.

Siddiqui said that by age 50, a person with an ASD might start having symptoms such as shortness of breath, fainting, irregular heart rhythms or fatigue after mild activity or exercise, and ultimately they might suffer strokes and congestive heart failure.

Siddiqui has expertise in a breakthrough procedure now being performed at Heart of Florida. Called an atrial septal defect closure, the procedure helps patients like Williams avoid the need for open-heart surgery to repair ASDs.

“After reviewing his tests, I decided to perform the catheter-based minimally invasive ASD closure using a closure device called a Gore Helex,” Siddiqui said.

“I attached the device to a catheter, which was inserted into a vein in mr. Williams’ groin and then advanced it to his heart and through the defects,” he explained. “We can guide the catheter to exactly the right spot by using fluoroscopy and intracardiac echo. as the device was slowly pushed out of the catheter, it opened up to cover each edge of the defects, sealing them closed. over time, tissue will grow over the implant and it will become part of mr. Williams’ heart.

“Once we got in to mr. Williams’ heart, we were able to see there was also a small aneurysm (bulging or weakening of the wall of a blood vessel.) we were able to correct it, as well,” Siddiqui said.

Williams is on medication to avoid blood clots and sees his doctor every three months.

“I feel much more comfortable physically, he said. “I don’t have to worry about passing out anymore.

“I believe in guardian angels now,” he said.

The Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center Physician Referral Line can be reached at 863-419-2341. The hospital’s website is heartofflorida.com.

I think there are some similirity between brain cancer and anxiety like if you feel dizzy, headache, some stings in your head and blured or double vision.

how can you know what exactly do you have without doing MRI. does there an easy way to know?

share your knowlege with me please.

how ever I think I have just anxiety , but it scares me when i feel dizzy and have a bit headaches and head stings and blured vision. I had panic attacks. i got cold hands and feet, a bout to vomit, back and neck pain and stretched chest . stomach and cheast pain. kind of senseless skin sometimes in my face and then goes to my back. hard time breathing, afraid to go out and specially in hug building with high ceilings, i used to feel dizzy when i enter this type of buildings. afraid to go out without someone i trust who can take me to a hospital when I feel that i am about to die. i use to put my hand close to my mouth when I am thinking and worried. can’t sleep without feeling that it might be the last time. afraid when I wake up. I feel there is no air and that I will stop breathing. i feel every muscle in my body is lifted. can’t keep eye contact for a long time. can’t concentrate when I am speaking or when i hear someone. people can’t understand me, and me too I feel i can’t get what people are saying once I feel my mind is farway and worried. very emotional, I hate to talk and feeling that i will faint in any moment. so depressed and anxious . want to be alone all the time. i feel my heart is not beating, and i feel me not me, life is like a nightmare. and living in a ship with this horrible dizziness. i use to hold things and close my eyes when it becomes so extreme. can’t read … i find it very bothering, becaue i have to focus and that what i really hate to do.. it makes me dizzy more. i hate places with too much noise and lights, I use to sit in a room with soft lights or non, get shocked when i hear loud voice suddenly i feel my heart beats fast and soemtimes it doesn;t beat. my body feels tired and becaue of my stomach pain and feelign about to vomit i don’t eat well.

anyway I really wish you can tell me what is the different between brain cancer and anxiety. and tell me some natural way to take my anxiety away, can dancing and singing help? can having so much feet massage and hands make me feel better..? even body? can changing your style and look makes your anxiety go away if you feel excided about it. what about the nice smells like fruits and flowers perfumes with candles….

by the way does dizziness cause you that you feel your feet can’t carry you or let you walk and you feel afraid to fall down, I always don’t trust my feet , so i don’t liek to go out like shopping for example. I feel I might fall down and the people may make fun of me. i am really tired

thanks anyway!

10 points for the full answer .

Scans that reveal flaws in the brain’s circuitry may one day be used to diagnose autism, researchers from McLean Hospital say in a report published last week.

Nicholas Lange and colleagues write in the journal Autism Research that their neuroimaging studies were able to distinguish people with autism from control subjects 94 percent of the time using an MRI that took about 10 minutes. The scans focused on three parts of the brain that are known to be impaired in autism: areas involving language, social and emotional function. currently autism is diagnosed after hours of interviews with parents and observation of a child, usually 2 to 3 years old, who does not appear to be developing normally.

“we all want to know what we can and cannot change about the disorder and how to improve the lives of people with autism,’’ Lange said in an interview. “this is a major step toward that goal and more research needs to be done before it is ready for clinical use.’’

For the study, the researchers examined the brains of 30 people from 7 to 28 years old with high-functioning autism and compared them to the brains of 30 similar people with normal development. The MRIs showed differences between the two groups in how tiny fibers between nerve cells were organized.

Out of the 30 people with autism, 28 were correctly identified based on scans that suggested information could not flow as easily through faulty neural connections. Out of the 30 controls without autism, three were incorrectly labeled.

In an interview, Lange made an analogy to the electrical wiring between a lamp and a wall socket. If the insulation on the wire is faulty, electricity cannot flow properly. In the same way, if the fibers between nerve cells in the brain are not well insulated with myelin, or if the fibers are disorganized, signals cannot travel as well.

They did not see differences between the brains of older and younger people with autism, hinting that problems in brain development may occur before age 7. Lange said further research will look at younger people and at people with more severe forms of the disorder.

An autism specialist not involved in the study also said more research is needed before the technique can be considered for use as a diagnostic tool. Dr. Stewart H. Mostofsky, director of the Laboratory for Neurocognitive and Imaging Research and medical director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, noted that the biggest differences in the brain scans showed up in areas central to language.

“The critical issue is not distinguishing children with autism from typically developing children but distinguishing children with autism from children with developmental language disorders or language impairment,’’ he said. “it is certainly possible that the primary [difference] is not necessarily autism presenting but rather the language impairments that are associated with autism.’’ ELIZABETH COONEY