Warning: Your weekend hangover just upped your chance of having a stroke!

Pay attention to this stark warning from The Stroke Association: It’s warned that, as the festive season approaches, more of us are likely to indulge in binge-drinking and this increases your risk of having a stroke dramatically.

The reason?

Finnish study shows excess alcohol consumption can lead to strokes

Because drinking heavily – especially binge-drinking – causes your blood to thin and “may be to blame for haemorrhagic strokes, where bleeding is caused by burst blood vessels in or around the brain,” reveals the Daily Mail.

So while alcohol in moderation can help prevent strokes and brain damage, drinking heavily has the opposite effect!

That’s the finding of a Finnish study of 2,600 men showed “binge drinking was associated with increased atherosclerotic progression” reports Men’s Fitness.

What does that mean?

Essentially, arteriosclerosis is the term for when an artery wall thickens as a result of the accumulation of calcium and fatty materials such as cholesterol and triglyceride. And “if it blocks a blood vessel that feeds the brain, it causes a stroke,” explains strokeassociation.org.

That’s bad news!

But what constitutes as binge-drinking?

According to the study, “a pattern of binge drinking was defined as consuming six or more drinks of the same alcoholic beverage in one session for men, or consuming four or more drinks for women.”

So there you have it. The end of the year is in sight and that means work parties, end of the year functions and dinners galore. Don’t let your celebrations turn into a visit to the hospital! Heed this warning and limit your alcohol intake to reduce your stroke risk.