Such variation in policy might reflect ambiguity about drinking risk thresholds associated with the lowest risk of mortality,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 as well as uncertainty about the specific consequences of alcohol consumption, including those related to cardiovascular disease subtypes. For example, recent studies have challenged the concept that moderate alcohol consumption is universally associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk,16, 17 but the dose–response associations of alcohol consumption with cardiovascular disease subtypes remain poorly understood. Therefore, to help in the formulation of evidence-based alcohol policy, we analysed individual-participant data from 83 long-term prospective studies in 19 high-income countries. Our aim was to characterise risk thresholds for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease subtypes in current drinkers of alcohol.
