[Conventional therapy exemplified by COPD]

Conventional therapies are those, that are generally agreed on and applied. With COPD these are strongly anti-inflammatory corticosteroids, bronchodilatant betamimetics, vagolytics and theophyllines, within certain indications antibiotics, secretolytics and secretomotorics, physical therapy and therapy of secondary effects. At present those measures, that might mitigate the status of patients importantly, e.g. patient training and beyond this early diagnosis and therapy to improve the prognosis are still unconventional. Prophylactic measures, importantly influencing pathogenesis and progression of the disease, would be of special importance. Prevention of cigarette smoking would show the greatest benefit. It would be desirable, that these unconventional measures would be more widespread in use than is presently the case.