Link between drinking hot tea and throat cancer found

30 March 2009

Indians love drinking tea - and they like it piping hot, but it is better to wait for four minutes before sipping it, as new research shows that drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of throat cancer.

A study carried out by Iranian researchers and published in the March issue of the British medical Journal shows that people residing in Golestan province of northern Iran, drank lots of hot tea every day and there was a strong indication that drinking very hot tea was linked to a higher risk of cancer of the oesophagus, which is the tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.

In Europe and America, oesophagus cancer is mainly caused by tobacco and alcohol use and is more common in men than in women.

Oesophagus cancer generally affects smokers and drinkers, but in Golestan province of Iran, which has one of the highest incidence rates for Oesophagus cancer in the world, the residents neither drink or smoke and the disease affected both men and women.

Earlier studies in Golestan have suggested that low intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, low socioeconomic status, and opiumconsumption are associated with a higher risk of oesophageal cancer. In addition, studies have pointed towards the possible role of drinking very hot tea.

An ecological study showed that inhabitants of Golestan drank an average of 1.2 litres of tea daily at a higher temperature than people living in a nearby area with a low incidence of oesophageal cancer.