[Hooly One]

Over the past week it's been obvious to all that the lack of cigarettes has hit hard upon heavy smoker Nadia. But what exactly is she going through and how will it affect the remainder of her stay in the house? DS:BB investigates.

It's entirely common for a regular smoker to be adversely affected when faced with nicotine withdrawal. "Side-effects include cravings, sleep disturbance, and irritation," says Lindi Maqhubela of the UK smoking charity QUIT. "A person's mood can also be affected, perhaps causing mood swings, tearfulness and headaches."

Certainly that is true of Nadia, who has been involved in numerous heated arguments with her house nemesis Jason in recent days. So what steps can she take towards quitting if faced with further cigarette shortages in future?

"If Nadia is ready and committed to quitting first she needs to set a quit date," explains Maqhubela. "She would then need to prepare and devise a plan on how she is going to cope without cigarettes. She could discuss this with other housemates, as she'll need their support. There are several forms of nicotine replacement available to help - namely, patches, gum, lozenge, nasal spray, inhalator and sublingual (under the tongue) tablets.

"Zyban is a non-nicotine treatment to help smokers who are motivated to quit. It is only available on NHS prescription from a GP, so Big Brother would need to arrange for a GP to visit Nadia in the house to discuss it's suitability. Zyban works by breaking the addiction to nicotine and differs from nicotine replacement therapies in that it does not substitute one source of nicotine with another. It also reduces the cravings for cigarettes and the withdrawal symptoms, clinical trials demonstrate that Zyban doubles the chances of success."

One other side-effect of Nadia's nicotine withdrawal has been her standing as the bookies favourite. The latest odds now place her joint-second with Daniel at 3/1, overtaken by Michelle, who is the new favourite at 2/1.

"Nadia's position as bookies favourite has come under pressure in recent days and the main reason for it is the mood swings caused by her lack of nicotine," says Warren Lush of Ladbrokes. "If Nadia were to go without a cigarette for the rest of the series there is no way she can win."

DS BB