Don't worry. There is a common sense response to the surgeon general's alcohol and cancer warning

Surgeon general's new warning about the connection between alcohol and cancer is time for us to better understand the threat. Sixty percent of Americans knew nothing about the danger.

From a 30,000-foot view, alcohol damages your DNA, which increases your cancer risk.  David N. Bernstein, MD, PhD, MBA, MEI is a resident physician at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Boston Children’s Hospital and a Senior Researcher in health care transformation at Harvard Business School. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter): @DNBernsteinMD.

I believe many of us have long suspected alcohol was not necessarily "good" for us. But what I think we did not know – or perhaps did not want to fully acknowledge – was just how bad it could be for our health. In fact, 60% of Americans report being unaware of the relationship between alcohol and cancer. Hopefully, this advisory begins the process of educating the public of this important health-related link.