In addition to analyzing all-cause mortality, we examined cardiovascular and cancer mortality in the NHIS dataset. Cardiovascular mortality is U-shaped with a nadir of drinking 3–4 days per week, however cancer-related mortality is minimized at the lowest level of alcohol consumption ,and risk linearly increases with frequency of drinking, even at low levels of drinking. This differential effect of drinking on causes of mortality highlights an opportunity for precision prevention: individuals with a strong family history of cardiovascular disease may reduce risk by drinking a few days per week whereas individuals with a strong family history of cancer may be cautioned not to drink at all to minimize risk.
