My wife has needed nicotine patches to help her stop smoking. Is this concentrated dose worse than her cutting down on smoking without using the patch?

-- Robert

NO. Nicotine patches are an effective aid to stopping smoking. In addition to the highly addictive nicotine, cigarettes contain many other substances that are extremely harmful. There are tars and formaldehyde-type products and many other chemicals that are carcinogenic (cancer-causing). The smoke itself is irritating to the airways and lungs. Cigarettes increase the risk of heart and lung disease, cancer (of the lung, mouth, breast, cervix and bladder), premature menopause and osteoporosis. Cigarettes are probably this nation's number-one preventable health hazard.

Many people who are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes need a little help to stop smoking. Using the nicotine patches will allow your wife to withdraw from the nicotine while altering her habits so she is no longer tempted to put that nasty, smelly cigarette in her mouth. The addition of a behavior modification class to the use of the patch will increase the odds she will remain cigarette-free for the rest of her life. You should encourage her in her efforts -- quitting smoking is the most important thing she can do for her health.