Patients with long-standing cortisone-dependent asthma bronchiale should be regularly monitored for the prevention of osteoporosis. Patients with cystic fibrosis may have osteoporosis even before lung transplantation and this should be treated in advance. One of the systemic manifestations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is skeletal muscle dysfunction, which is one factor in the development of osteopaenia/osteoporosis in these patients.