Alert, Hot Drinks Can Cause Throat Cancer

Medical Video: Throat Cancer Symptoms -- You Need to Know!

Do you have the habit of drinking hot tea or coffee every morning? If so, then you may be at risk of developing throat cancer.

Some studies have shown that very hot drinks can cause cancer to grow in the body, especially in the throat. This was confirmed by a statement from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which revealed that consuming beverages that are too hot can cause carcinogens and can damage throat tissue.

What temperature is considered dangerous to drink?

A study conducted in Iran involved as many as 300 people who often consumed drinks with quite hot temperatures, and 571 people were accustomed to cooling their hot drinks before drinking. From the study it was known that as many as 22% of people consumed drinks with temperatures of more than 65 degrees Celsius, 38.9% drank their drinks at a temperature of 60-64 degrees Celsius, and 39% consumed drinks in a temperature less than 60 degrees Celsius.

It was found that the group who consumed their drinks in very hot conditions (temperatures over 65 degrees Celsius) had an 8 times higher chance of developing throat cancer. While the group that consumed drinks that were between 60 and 64 degrees Celsius, had the risk of having throat cancer 2 times higher than the group who waited for their drinks to cool or the temperature dropped.

The Lancet Oncology recently also reported the same thing as previous research. The journal re-evaluated 1000 studies that examined consumption of coffee and other hot drinks with various cancer events. From these publications, it can be concluded that consuming drinks that are over 65 degrees Celsius can damage cells in the throat and turn into carcinogenic substances.

What is the relationship between the temperature of the drink and throat cancer?

Eating drinks in very hot temperatures can hurt the throat and make it burn. Shortly after consuming a hot-temperature drink (more than 65 degrees Celsius), the temperature inside the throat will increase by about 6 to 12 degrees Celsius, depending on the amount taken at that time. This causes the throat to burn and damage the throat tissue.

The throat is covered by cells called squamosa cells which are types of connective tissue cells. This cell is the same as the cells that are on the surface of the skin. When the cells are exposed to a very hot drink, the cell will be injured. Injured cells will be quickly healed again, but in the process of cell recovery, gene mutations occur which cause the formation of new tumor tissue. Therefore, the type of throat cancer that arises due to this event is squamosa cell cancer.

This is similar to the incidence of skin cancer, which also has squamous cell damage due to sunburn. Only one or two times consuming hot drinks may not cause throat cancer. New throat cancer appears after the habit of drinking very hot drinks has been done repeatedly so that the throat burns repeatedly and regenerates continuously. It is this deviant regeneration that causes throat cancer.

Cool the temperature of your drink first

Indeed, more research and scientific evidence is needed to prove exactly whether drinking hot drinks will cause throat cancer. However, if indeed you have a habit of consuming hot drinks every day, then from now on you should let it be a little cooler first. Don't drink drinks that are still very hot. In addition to damaging the tissue in the throat, this can cause the tongue to numb and will reduce taste sensitivity. It is better to consume drinks whose temperature has dropped to 60 degrees Celsius or even less, to reduce the risk of burning throat and throat cancer.

READ ALSO