Strange question..what is the difference

[serryjw]

between smoking and using the 'patch'. My girlfriend keeps using the patch even so she hasn't smoked in 3 months to lose weight! How bad is this for you?

[PADemD]

1. At least she's not killing someone else with secondhand smoke.

[aikoaiko]

2. no smoke?

seriously, nicotine in moderate doses doesn't too much harm I believe.

[Lex]

3. Seems like if you break the ritual of smoking (using hands, lighting up)

and all that, then you can work yourself down on the nicotine part?

[Richard Steele]

4. It's MUCH 'less bad' than smoking.

Nicotine itself actually causes very few of the medical
problems asociated with smoking. It's all the tar and
nasty chemical additives that do the harm; and their
effects are multiplied by superheating them and applying
them to the most delicate tissue in your body.

A direct-to-bloodstream Nicotine addiction is probably
no worse than a espresso-drinkin' caffeine addiction.

[serryjw]

6. WOW! Learn something every day

thanks

[Dhalgren]

5. My sister in law used the nic. gum to quit smoking. But she was

having trouble quiting the gum. Her doctor told her the gum was not a problem, it was the smoke in her lungs that was the problem. Evidently small amounts of nicotine is not a big problem, but the smoke delivery system is the problem...

[Skittles]

7. trouble is the gum and patches are damn expensive

makes one miss one of the best benefits of quitting smoking - the cost savings :o

[Kailassa]

8. Here's a good article on the effects of nicotene.

Nicotine and the Body
Nicotine initially causes a rapid release of adrenaline, the "fight-or-flight" hormone. If you've ever jumped in fright at a scary movie or rushed around the office trying to finish a project by your deadline, you may be familiar with adrenaline's effects:

* Rapid heartbeat
* Increased blood pressure
* Rapid, shallow breathing

Adrenaline also tells your body to dump some of its glucose stores into your blood. This makes sense if you remind yourself that the "fight-or-flight" response is meant to help you either defend yourself from a hungry predator or hightail it out of a dangerous situation -- running or brawling both require plenty of energy to fuel your muscles. (For more information, see How Exercise Works.)

Nicotine itself may also block the release of the hormone insulin. Insulin tells your cells to take up excess glucose from your blood. This means that nicotine makes people somewhat hyperglycemic, having more sugar than usual in their blood. Some people think that nicotine also curbs their appetite so that they eat less. This hyperglycemia could be one explanation why: Their bodies and brain may see the excess sugar and down-regulate the hormones and other signals that are perceived as hunger.

Nicotine may also increase your basal metabolic rate slightly. This means that you burn more calories than you usually would when you are just sitting around. (For more information on metabolism, see How Calories Work.) However, losing weight by smoking doesn't give you any of the health benefits that you'd get if you were losing weight by exercising -- it actually does the opposite! Over the long haul, nicotine can increase the level of the "bad" cholesterol, LDL, that damages your arteries. This makes it more likely that you could have a heart attack or a stroke.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nicotine3.htm

It's not good, but there are worse things she could be doing. If you were to push her into giving up the patches, that could trigger her taking up ciggies again, which are far far worse than this. Nicotene is shockingly difficult for most long-term addicts to get free of, and women have a harder time giving up than men do. A person can only do it when they decide in themselves that they must. External pressure will almost always be counterproductive.

[serryjw]

9. Great Info

Thanks, will pass on to her

[Kailassa]

10. Good luck, I understand how much you care about her.

It's painful to see someone you love damaging themselves.

My daughter smoked for years, and I knew she was incredibly stubborn and already aware of how much I hated cigarettes. So I never said a thing about it, just waited patiently for her to make her own decision to give up.

It took her over 10 years to finally make that decision, and then she slipped up and smoked again for a few more years. Now she seems to have kicked it for good, been "clean" about 3 years, but I know what she went through. Even now she sometimes has terrible cravings for it.

:grouphug: