Drinking tea increases risk of throat cancer
Drinking tea increases risk of throat cancer
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Sunday, 29, Mar 2009 07:21
New research has suggested drinking hot tea can increase the risk of throat cancer.
A report published on BMJ online looked at the tea drinking habits of 300 people diagnosed with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and a matched group of 571 healthy controls from the same area.
Compared with drinking warm or lukewarm tea (65°C or less), drinking hot tea (65-69°C) was associated with twice the risk of oesophageal cancer, and drinking very hot tea (70°C or more) was associated with eight-fold increased risk.
Likewise, compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured, drinking tea less than two minutes after pouring was associated with a five-fold higher risk.
The results provide persuasive evidence that drinking tea at temperatures greater than 70°C markedly increases the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, David Whiteman from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia added in an accompanying editorial
Experts claim the report also lends support to the notion that thermal injury may be a cause of epithelial cancers. Although, the way in which heat promotes tumour development is not clear and warrants further investigation, the authors add.