An analysis of the evidence to date shows that heavy drinking increases stroke risk, while moderate drinking has the opposite effect.
It's known that 'binge' drinking tends to increase the likelihood of stroke, but the relationship is quite a complex one. Researchers at Tulane University have just reported a new analysis, where they looked at 35 different studies on alcohol and stroke.

They find that those who drank more than five drinks a day had a 60 per cent greater risk of all kinds of stroke, compared to abstainers. This includes a 69 per cent increased risk of ischemic stroke (caused by a clot in the brain) and a doubling of the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (caused by bleeding in the brain).

But people drinking around one drink a day had a 17 per cent reduced risk of any kind of stroke, and those consuming one to two drinks a day had a 27 per cent reduced risk of ischemic stroke (the most common form). Clearly efforts to reduce heavy alcohol consumption could go some way to reducing the toll from stroke, which is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States.