Hot tea - one of the favorite Russian drinks in the frosty winter season.
He energizes, helps warm up and even soothes the sore throat.
The results of the new study cast a shadow on the national drink: regular use of hot tea increases the chance of esophageal cancer several times!.
Tea is highly valued almost all over the world. According to the estimates of international statistical agencies, it was only in 2016 that almost 3,000,000 tons of tea leaf was sold.
Medbe Edition. ru repeatedly reported on the benefits of this drink for health: tea is rich in polyphenols and other substances with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect.
Indeed, scientists have nothing against moderate consumption of tea, but only if one condition is met - the drink should be comfortable temperature.
The results of a study conducted by researchers from Beijing University (China) testify to the high risk associated with hot tea, especially among smokers and alcohol lovers. Details are published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Five-fold risk of esophageal cancer.
According to the World Cancer Foundation, oesophageal cancer ranks eighth in the world among the most common malignant diseases. In the Russian Federation, about 7-8 thousand new cases of esophageal cancer are registered each year, but the highest incidence rates are observed in China and Central Asia.
The project manager, Ms. Jun Liu, from the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology of Peking University, considers the connection between hot tea and esophagus cancer more than logical and reasonable.
The main factor is the temperature of the drink.
Dr. Liu for a long time considered the effect of high temperatures on the development of esophageal cancer. It has been confirmed that several damaging factors contribute to the malignant degeneration of GIT cells - primarily alcohol, smoking and high fever. If a non-smoking and teetotaler can quite pamper themselves with hot tea with a relatively low probability of complications, then a fatal combination of three factors leads to a multiple increase in the incidence of esophageal cancer.
Scientists monitored the health status of participants in the China Kadoorie Biobank project, whose goal is to collect and analyze data on the development of chronic diseases among Chinese. To ensure the reliability of the results, the authors initially excluded people with confirmed malignant tumors of any localization.
As a result, the analysis included more than 456,000 women and men aged 30 to 79 years. During the decade, 1,731 participants were diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
According to calculations, the use of hot tea by smoking and drinking participants is associated with a fivefold increase in the risk of esophageal cancer.
Surprisingly, participants without bad habits could enjoy a hot drink with virtually no consequences - for this category, the risk was minimal.
Based on these results, Dr. Liu advises once again to think about a healthy lifestyle, to give up cigarettes and alcohol, and if possible also from hot drinks.
medbe. en.