Can hot beverages increase the risk of throat cancer?
Hot beverages, such as tea and coffee, are very popular in a lot of cultures. However, it may be best to not drink them while they are still very hot.
This study investigated whether drinking very hot tea increased the risk of developing throat cancer. First, subject’s tea drinking habits such as drinking temperature were measured. Then, the subjects were observed for around 10 years to record if they developed throat cancer.
Subjects that drank their tea at a temperature above 60 degrees Celsius had an increased risk of developing throat cancer compared to the subjects that drank their tea less hot (i.e. lower than 60 degrees Celsius).
A possible explanation is that very hot tea might cause thermal injury in the throat, which in turn may increase the risk for cancer.
This was an observational study, meaning that this research cannot prove that the hot tea causes the throat cancer (correlation does not necessarily mean causation). However, keep in mind that a controlled experiment on this topic is pretty much impossible and unethical.
To put these data in some perspective: the chance on developing throat cancer is pretty small. Therefore, if something would for example double that chance, the actual chance you would get throat cancer would still be pretty small.
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