[Women and alcohol: biological vulnerability].

Alcohol abuse is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in western countries. In the last decade, the rate of women involved in alcohol abuse is increasing. This is particularly dangerous since alcohol abuse causes heavier damages in women than in men. This is due to physiological differences about body composition, enzymatic and hormonal patterns. At now gender studies are not enough and are to be deepened. Obtained results are synthetically described in this paper. Emerging problems are new habits of alcohol abuse, the decreasing age of first use in women and the teratogenic effect of alcohol on fetal development.