Drinking brings up many health concerns.  A new article features study results from recent tests showing possible connections between alcohol and stroke risk.  Here's some of what it showed:
Men with a severe form of hypertension showed a 12–fold increased risk for cardiovascular disease mortality associated with heavy binge drinking.

Many people associate heavy alcohol use with liver disease. However, most are unaware of it’s harmful effects on the cardiovascular system. Besides causing weight gain, diabetes and hypertension, it is also a poison to the heart. Holiday heart syndrome is a disease where binge drinking is associated with atrial fibrillation which can lead to heart attacks or strokes-even in the absence of any pre-existing heart disease. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (weakening of the heart muscle) is also very common.
One or two drinks per day is probably healthy, but beware of heavier use.