September is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, and local resources are available to support caregivers and family members.

The $117 billion spending plan includes support for mental health and addiction services, cancer research, maternal and child health, elder care, and veterans' services.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is recommending consumers who purchased certain lots of Great Value raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart stores in 13 states, including Florida, not eat or serve the product and instead throw it away. At issue is possible radioactive contamination of the shrimp due to the containers used.The FDA is actively investigating reports of Cesium-137 (Cs-137) contamination in shipping containers and frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods) of Indonesia.

The Estero corridor is becoming a beacon for some of the most advanced, cutting-edge cancer treatment.Southwest Florida Proton opened last December on Estero Parkway and now Curadel Pharma is seeking to build a 43,000-square-foot cancer treatment facility and headquarters two miles away on Corkscrew Road.Curadel officials made their request last week to the Estero Planning Zoning & Design Board at a public informational meeting.

Choking is the fourth leading cause of accidental death with one child is lost to choking every five days and a total of 5000 people a year. But there is a device that has the potential to help lessen those chances — the LifeVac — and now Collier County Sheriff Office units will all have one of the life-savers. Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk displayed the LifeVac at a special media briefing Thursday at the Professional Development Center in Collier County and said the Sheriff's Office is adding 500 LifeVac choking rescue devices, enough to equip every CCSO patrol vehicle.The donation was made possible by The Cassata Foundation and LifeVac inventor and CEO Arthur Lih. Foundation trustees Rosario S. Cassata and his wife Carolyn Cassata are Collier County residents. Lih lives in Southwest Florida as well.

The Body Mass Index has become the standard for monitoring optimal health. However, other methods are becoming a doctors recommended path is predicting future ailments and diseases.

Community Blood Center, an affiliate of the NCH Healthcare System, is in critical need of platelets and types O negative and A negative blood, due to sudden and increased patient usage.

Southwest Florida is in the midst of mosquito season. The blood-sucking pests have the potential to bring a variety of diseases, including the dreaded West Nile virus.

The deaths caused by Vibrio vulnificus bacterium were in Hillsborough, Bay, Broward and St. Johns counties, according to the Florida Department of Health.