Answer:
Some studies have suggested a correlation between very light drinking and good health. The effects of heavy episodic drinking on health (see “binge drinking” above) are uniformly negative. There are many obvious short-term risks such as injury, alcohol poisoning, and sleep deprivation (alcohol actually disables the body from going into REM sleep), but the less obvious long-term effects can be even worse. You can read the detailed account of the long-term effects of alcohol.