Drinking ‘very hot’ drinks may increase risk of esophageal cancer: study

A new study from the University of Oxford in the U.K. found that participants who said they drank “hot” or “very hot” drinks may have a higher risk of developing a type of esophageal cancer. Scientists outside the U.K. have been studying a possible correlation for years, Cancer Research U.K. — which funded the research — noted. 1:56 Raising awareness for childhood cancer Story continues below advertisement “International research has shown for some time that drinking beverages like mate at very high temperatures, as is typical in South America, is linked to increased risk of certain oesophageal cancers,” Dr. Keren Papier, lead researcher and senior nutritional epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health, told the charity. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Mate is a caffeinated herbal beverage similar to tea, but made with the yerba mate plant.“What was less clear was whether this also applied to the temperatures at which hot drinks are usually consumed in Western populations,” she added.Papier and her team of researchers analyzed data from almost one million British adults to identify possible signs of a simi...