Drinking hot drinks could increase your risk of cancer | Science | In-depth reports on science and technology | DW

Several factors increase your risk of cancer. Alcohol abuse, smoking and obesity can all contribute to a higher cancer risk – no surprise. But now, researchers at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran have confirmed another.

Their large-scale study has shown that people who regularly drink drinks whose temperature is above 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) are at a much higher risk of contracting esophageal cancer.

Read more: Coffee does not cause cancer, it is not too hot drunk

Iranian researchers observed and examined over 50,000 men and women in Golestan province, located in northern Iran, during a period from 2004 to 2017. During this period, 317 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus (CCHS) were identified. oesophageal cancer.

Scientists have found that drinking 700 ml or more of tea per day at at least 60 degrees Celsius "was systematically badociated with an increase of about 90% in CCHS risk".

Higher risk in South America, Asia and Africa

The Tehran University study confirms long-standing suspicions. In 2016, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) ranked the consumption of very hot beverages as a potentially carcinogenic substance.

The agency specifically mentioned beverages whose temperature is above 65 degrees Celsius (and about 149 degrees Fahrenheit), as well as mate – a tea traditionally drunk at very high temperatures in South America, Asia and Canada. Africa.

Does this mean that hot tea is as dangerous as strong alcohol or cigarettes, two other factors known to increase your risk of esophageal cancer? It may depend on where you live. While the Iranian study proves it, the American Cancer Society points out that in the United States, hot drinks such as tea, coffee or cocoa are usually drunk at temperatures below 65 degrees Celsius.

Read more: Metastasis – the real risk of cancer

German experts also do not consider hot drinks to be an exceptional risk. Thomas Seufferlein is the Medical Director of the Internal Medicine Clinic I of Ulm University Hospital, Baden-Württemberg. It treats patients with oesophageal cancer for about 20 years.

His answer to the question about oesophageal cancer cases caused by the consumption of hot drinks?

"Personally, I've never seen that in a patient."

"Breath on your glbad, do not panic"

Seufferlein says that there is no point in worrying about drinking hot tea in Germany at the moment.

"At home, people who do not drink alcohol often and do not smoke, but who suffer from esophageal cancer after drinking hot drinks are the absolute exception" said the doctor to DW. "I would say just blow on your glbad and not panic."

This is a good tip – cold tea can not cause the same damage as hot tea because the hot drinks burn the lining of the esophagus.

"With these cases, we are talking about chronic thermal damage," said Seufferlein. "Damage caused by a mucous membrane always leads to an attempt to repair this damage, and if repairs are constantly being made, the margin of error is also greater."

When these errors occur in cell divisions, this can create mutations – and this, to put it simply, is the way cancer cells are born.

Seufferlein pointed out that the exact process of how hot beverages damage the esophagus has not yet been explored. But waiting for your tea to cool down a bit before spoiling you, that seems like the smart thing to do right now.