Requests for alcohol and cigarettes by the 33 trapped Chilean miners have been refused by a Nasa doctor and they have instead been given nicotine patches to get them through their ordeal.

The miners had added wine and cigarettes to a wish list of items they wanted to help them cope, but were told they will have to forego the vices of drinking and smoking during what is expected to be several months underground.

According to one report some of the miners were dependant on alcohol before becoming trapped and already experiencing withdrawal symptoms after nearly four weeks cut off from the outside world.

But James Michael Duncan, Nasa’s deputy chief doctor, who has flown with a team of space agency medical experts to Chile, said: “From the alcohol standpoint, we need to first get their nutrition up before we make any considerations there.”

Instead of wine, the miners, who have lost about 22lb each in body weight, will have to make do with high protein, high-calorie foods delivered to them in narrow plastic tubes.