A recent report found that using nicotine patches two weeks before a scheduled quit date more than doubles the odds of kicking the habit of smoking. The new study was published this year in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco research. This could potentially help the twenty one percent or 44.5 million adult Americans that smoke make it a little easier to quit.

Skeptics believed that using the patch for two weeks while smoking would be too harmful on your body or would increase addiction due to the increased amount of nicotine in the body. When asked in an article in Healthday News, Jed E. Rose a medical research professor and director of Duke Universities Center for Nicotine Cessation Research said, "Not true, We have also found in the recent studies that the success rate is double even when smokers switched to a low nicotine or de-nicotinized cigarettes during the two week pre-cessation treatment period, and this procedure further allays any concerns about the possibility of nicotine overdose."

The original study was comprised of 96 individuals who expressed a desire to quit smoking. Two weeks prior their quit date, half of the subjects wore a real patch and the other half wore a placebo patch that had no nicotine.

Twenty-three percent of those who wore the placebo patch before two weeks before quitting kicked the habit after four weeks, while fifty percent of those wearing the real patch quit. Those wearing the real patch also reported a decrease in smoking and cravings before the quit date and reported fewer withdraw symptoms than the placebo patch users.

Patches come in many different dosages depending on you level on nicotine dependence. Prescription strength patches are available for heavy smokers; however the price for these patches can become pricey. If you are in search of cheaper prescriptions including nicotine patches, check out ePharmacies.com. eP is a website that allows you to find and compare prices on prescription medication online. Visit this Consumer Advocacy website for more information on ordering from .