A tomato-rich diet may help protect at-risk postmenopausal women from breast cancer, according to new research accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Breast cancer risk rises in postmenopausal women as their body mass index climbs. The study found eating a diet high in tomatoes had a positive effect on the level of hormones that play a role in regulating fat and sugar metabolism.
"The advantages of eating plenty of tomatoes and tomato-based products, even for a short period, were clearly evident in our findings," said the study's first author, Adana Llanos, PhD, MPH, who is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Rutgers University. Llanos completed the research while she was a postdoctoral fellow with Electra Paskett, PhD, at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. "Eating fruits and vegetables, which are rich in essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals such as lycopene, conveys significant benefits. Based on this data, we believe regular consumption of at least the daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables would promote breast cancer prevention in an at-risk population."

A new study supports widespread evidence that individuals who have suffered a fracture are at significantly increased risk of subsequent hip fractures. In fact, previous studies have shown that half of patients presenting with hip fractures have suffered a prior fracture.

Researchers T.-L. Huang and C.-W. Chen from the China Medical University in Chinese Taipei, studied whether Colles' fracture (fracture of the distal radius in the forearm, i.e. wrist fracture) increased hip fracture risk within one year, in an Asian population.

The investigators extracted data for patients with newly diagnosed Colles' fracture from records of both ambulatory and in-patient care during the years 2000–2006 and compared fracture risk in this group to a cohort without Colles' fracture. Both study groups were followed up for one year to measure the incidence of hip fracture using three different calculation models.