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Study: Drinking tea too hot can increase the risk of cancer of the esophagus
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A new study suggests that people who like to drink tea are too hot to let it cool in order to avoid an increased risk of esophageal cancer.
Tea lovers who drink it are very hot at over 60 degrees Celsius and, in large quantities, they are almost twice as likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma in the esophagus as those who drink it, less than in general, after a follow-up of more than ten years.
"Drinking hot tea is usually very prevalent in the world and previous studies have suggested a link between hot drinks and the increased risk of esophageal cancer," said Dr. Farhad Eslami, principal investigator of the ### American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia.
The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma in the esophagus is the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths in the world.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization has classified "overheated" drinks at more than 65 degrees Celsius among "probably the cause of cancer".
In this study, which began in 2004, researchers collected data on 50,000 adults living in the northeastern region of Jalatan, a region where high rates of esophageal cancer and an average of 1,100 milliliters of black tea a day have been reported.
At the beginning of the study, researchers poured cups of tea during interviews with the participants, measured the temperature of the drink, and interviewed each person about their personal preferences for tea consumption and the time between their consumption. and in general for each of them.
In 2017, 317 participants were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Tea drinkers were more likely to be infected by 41% at temperatures equal to or greater than 60 degrees Celsius compared to those who drank them at lower temperatures.
The percentage of those who prefer to drink tea is "very hot" about two and a half times compared to those who prefer it cold or hot. People who drank tea within two minutes of the onset of illness were up to 51% more likely than those who waited six minutes or more.
Overall, those who drank at least 700 milliliters of hot tea daily had an alcohol consumption rate 91% higher than those who drank less at lower temperatures.
"We do not ask people to stop drinking tea, but we recommend that you wait a while until they calm down before drinking," said Islami.
The researchers noted that the effect of hot tea consumption on the increased risk of the disease remained evident even after taking other factors at the origin of the disease, such as smoking and alcohol abuse or opium consumption, as well as other social and geographical factors.
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