Q. Now that my husband has quit smoking (after 16 years) he has become a bear about my habit. I don't think he has the right to suddenly become an expert on the subject. He tells me that I'm running the risk of cancer of the cervix by smoking. Is this just another way of pushing me, or does he know something I don't?

A. Obviously he knows enough to have chucked the habit, a lesson you apparently haven't learned yet. Most reformed smokers find it difficult to be around the smell and scent of tobacco, because they become more aware of smoke in the air as their sense of smell returns. I find it interesting that he is now using a cervical cancer argument to try to get you to quit. He is not without some support in the medical literature.