ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
CHICAGO (AP) – The American Cancer Society now says women should start mammograms later in life and get fewer of them, a stance that puts the trusted group closer to an influential government task force’s advice. In new guidelines out Tuesday, the cancer society recommends that most women should begin annual screening for breast cancer at age 45 instead of 40, and switch to every other year at 55. The task force advises screening every other year starting at age 50. It’s not a one-size-fits-all recommendation; both groups say women’s preferences for when to be scanned should be considered. The advice is for women at average risk for breast cancer. Doctors generally recommend more intensive screening for higher-risk women, including those with specific genetic mutations. “The most important message of all is that a mammogram is the most effective thing that a woman can do to reduce her chance of dying from breast cancer,” said Dr. Richard Wender, the cancer society’s cancer control chief. “It’s not that mammograms are ineffective in younger women,” he said, but at age 40, breast cancer is uncommon and false alarms are more likely. “Therefore, you’d have to do a lot more mammograms to prevent one death,” compared to older women, Wender said. Concern about false alarms contributed to the cancer society’s new guidance. These lead to worry and more testing – they mean an initial result was suspicious but that cancer was ruled out by additional scans and sometimes biopsies. The latest guidelines acknowledge that some younger women are willing to accept that, and that for them starting annual exams at age 40 is fine, as long as they know the risks. The guidelines were developed by experts who reviewed dozens of studies including research published since 1997 – the year the cancer group recommended yearly mammograms starting at age 40, and since 2003, when it stopped recommending monthly breast self-exams. The update recommends that women continue getting screened as long as they are in good health and have a life expectancy of at least 10 years. The old guidelines did not include an age limit. The cancer group also dropped a recommendation for routine physical breast exams by doctors, saying there’s no evidence that these save lives. The Rev. Jennifer Munroe-Nathans, 46, a pastor in Millis, Massachusetts, said she hasn’t paid attention to guidelines and started getting annual scans around age 40 on her doctor’s advice. Her mother had breast cancer, so have some of her congregants and Munroe-Nathans said she has no plans to change course when she gets older. “For my own peace of mind I intend to continue yearly mammograms,” she said. “I’ve seen the impact of breast cancer – perhaps that makes me a little more hyper-vigilant.” The society’s updated guidelines say switching to every other year at age 55 makes sense because tumors in women after menopause tend to grow more slowly. Also, older women’s breasts are usually less dense so cancer is more visible on mammograms, said Dr. Kevin Oeffinger, chairman of the society’s breast cancer guideline panel and director of the cancer survivorship center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The guidelines were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. More than 200,000 women in the U.S. each year are diagnosed with breast cancer and about 40,000 die from the disease. Overall, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with the disease at some point and chances increase with age. Oeffinger said women need to be familiar with their breasts and aware of any changes, which should be evaluated by their doctors. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, whose guidelines have historically influenced Medicare coverage, made waves in 2009 when it recommended mammograms every other year starting at age 50, to age 74. In draft recommendations released earlier this year, the group said mammograms for women in their 40s should be an individual decision based on preferences and health history, and that more research is needed to determine potential benefits or harms for scans for women aged 75 and older. That panel also questioned the value of breast exams by doctors, citing a lack of evidence for any benefit or harm. It will examine the cancer society’s evidence review in finalizing its update, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, the task force’s vice chair and a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Most health plans are required to cover screening mammograms free of charge as part of preventive care mandated by the Affordable Care Act, and many insurers cover the screenings starting at age 40. Several doctor groups still recommend mammograms starting at age 40, including those representing radiologists and gynecologists, but the American Cancer Society’s breast cancer guidelines are the most widely followed, said Dr. Kenneth Lin, a family medicine physician at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Lin said he supports the new guidance but that it will make his job more challenging at first, trying to explain to patients the changes and differences with other groups. Lin said he – and probably many other doctors – will likely continue doing physical breast exams, out of habit and because they consider the exams to be an important part of doctor-patient interactions. ___ Online: JAMA: http://bit.ly/1LzevQA Cancer Society guideline history: http://bit.ly/1c1F5QT