Avoid hot tea/coffee as it could cause cancer
The cancer research agency of the World Health Organisation has found in a new study that drinking very hot beverages can cause cancer of the oesophagus. The next time you have your coffee or tea – be careful it is not steaming hot when you sip it.
A ‘very hot’ beverage is described as those over 65°C. Studies by an international working group of 23 scientists convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has shown positive associations between cancer of the oesophagus and drinking very hot beverages.
Findings of the study show beverages over 65°C, including tea and coffee, are ‘probably’ carcinogenic to humans.
However, the agency didn’t find any conclusive evidence for carcinogenic effects of drinking coffee or maté – a South American caffeine-rich drink -at temperatures that are not very hot. Both had been classified as ‘possibly cancerogenic to humans’ since 1991, when the last evaluation was done.
In India, oesophageal cancer is among the top 10 cancers in terms of incidence. However, in terms of mortality, it is the third highest, ac counting for over 63,000 deaths annually , according to the 2013 Global Burden of Cancer report.
Deaths from oesophageal cancer in India have increased by around 65% in the last decade.
Globally, oesophageal cancer is the eighth most common, and one of the main causes of cancer deaths, with around 4 lakh fatalities recorded in 2012 .
‘These results suggest that drinking very hot beverages is one probable cause of oesophageal cancer and that it is the temperature, rather than the drinks themselves, that appears to be responsible,’ said Dr Christopher Wild, director, IARC.
According to the UN agency’s report, studies in places such as China, Iran, Turkey, and South America, where tea or maté is traditionally drunk very hot (at about 70°C), found that the risk of oesophageal cancer increased with the temperature at which the beverage was drunk.
The majority of oesophageal cancer cases occur in the parts of Asia, South America and East Africa where drinking very hot beverages is common, the study said.
Doctors in India said there is an urgent need to conduct such studies in India. ‘Most of such studies are conducted in China and South America. The incidence of oesophageal cancer is fast rising in India and there is an urgent need to conduct a systematic study in India to analyse the cause,’ said Dr Arvind Kumar, chairperson, department of chest and thoracic surgery, Ganga Ram Hospital.
Published in Lancet Oncology, the result also show that for some types of cancer, there are hints that coffee may be beneficial if consumed at below 65°C.
The study found that at “normal“ temperatures, there was some data pointing to a lower risk of cancer of the uterus, liver and breast.
Studies have also found that coffee has other health benefits. Taken together, the data suggests ‘there is inadequate evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of coffee’, said the agency.
Is it the beverage or the ‘very hot’ temperature that is responsible – until proved conclusively it may be a good idea to avoid drinking ‘very hot’ tea or coffee…or for that matter any beverage!
