From the front page of the BCCT.
I'm looking at my breakfast table: The bacon is bad for me. Ditto the eggs. The hash browns are dripping with butter. And now my coffee is a problem.
Did anyone tell the good people over at Dunkin Donuts about this?
Yum. This is a good breakfast!
Study: Hot beverages may increase throat cancer risk
Scientists have found people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus, damaging the protective tissue over time, which can increase cancer risk.
By JO CIAVAGLIA
STAFF WRITER
Most people know that cigarettes and excessive alcohol can kill you, but what about a cup of hot coffee or tea?
For more than 20 years, scientists have speculated about a possible connection between super hot beverages and increased risk of some throat cancers, but study outcomes have been mixed. But a study of Iranian tea drinkers provides new strong evidence of a link, researchers say.
The latest results published online in the British Medical Journal last week found abnormally high rates of squamous cell esophageal cancer among people living in a Northern Iran province where alcohol is forbidden, tobacco use is rare, but very hot black tea is a daily staple.
The observational study analyzed the smoking, alcohol and tea habits of 871 people, 300 of them recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and found a strong link between drink temperatures and the likelihood they developed esophageal cancer.
Participants answered questions about their tea-drinking habits including the temperature and how long they let the tea brew before drinking it. Nearly all participants said they drank black tea daily.
Squamous cell esophageal cancer was eight times as common among people who drank “very hot” tea, compared to warm or lukewarm tea drinkers. By the same comparison, hot tea drinkers were twice as likely as warm or lukewarm tea drinkers to have esophageal cancer.
The scientists classified warm beverages as anything below 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot beverage, considered higher than 156 degrees Fahrenheit, doubled the risk of esophageal cancer.
Study participants who frequently drank tea at 158 degrees Fahrenheit or above had an eight-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
The researchers concluded that allowing beverages to cool before drinking reduces the cancer risk.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of esophageal cancer responsible for a half-million deaths each year worldwide. Tobacco and alcohol use are the most common causes of windpipe cancer in Europe and America, but scientists also theorized that frequent consumption of hot drinks might play a role.
For Abington Memorial Hospital oncologist Dr. Mark Sundermeyer, what makes the new study interesting is it removed the two biggest cancer risk factors —tobacco and alcohol — which allowed the focus to remain on beverage temperature.
What scientists have found is that people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus. Over time, it results in damage to the protective tissue.
The damaged lining likely doesn’t cause the cancer, but it does allow carcinogenic compounds in foods to enter the body, Sundermeyer explained.
Sundermeyer added it’s unclear what the findings would mean to Americans. He knows of no scientific studies looking at the average temperature of hot beverages in the United States. His hunch, though, is U.S. restaurants tend to serve superheated drinks.
“I could very well see someone make a cup of coffee and it’s that hot,” he said.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
From today's BCCT. In the name of self-righteousness and "public safety", will one of Morrisville's resident experts please attend this meeting and explain to these poor Bensalem folks that this proposed "Drowning Basin/West Nile Virus Incubator" would "spell disaster" for them? And if that sucka can't percolate A 100-year storm in 96 hours flat, IT'S AGAINST THE LAAAAAAW!
Plan addresses drainage trouble
Bucks County Courier Times
The basin would be 10 feet deep and encircled by a six-foot to eight-foot high fence.
By Joan Hellyer
Easing flood concerns in Bensalem's Eddington section is the goal of a long-term storm drainage project expected to begin later this year.
The first phase of the work would be to install a detention basin next to Cornwells Elementary School to ease drainage problems in the neighborhoods surrounding the school, officials said.
In order to do the work, the township needs an easement or land grant from the Bensalem School District because the tract where it plans to build the basin belongs to the school system, officials said.
The basin would be 10 feet deep and encircled by a fence measuring six- to eight-feet high, according to information presented at a school board committee's meeting in February.
During that meeting, board members asked that a public meeting be held to show area residents the plan before the district's governing body decides how to handle the land use request.
Township representatives, including an engineer involved with the project, will outline the project at 7 p.m. Monday night for area residents at the school off Hulmeville Road. It is located midway between Street Road and Bristol Pike.
District officials sent a letter home with Cornwells students last week to inform parents about the meeting.
The basin would be used to slowly discharge rainwater in the Poquessing Creek, said William Cmorey, the township's director of administration. One of the creek's tributaries runs behind the school.
Eventually, a long-range project would include installation of storm drains up and down each street in the Eddington area, Cmorey said. He didn't have information available Friday on how much the entire project would cost.
Post a Comment