Traditional Chinese medicine for vascular protection in ischemic stroke

Although new drugs and intervention strategies have emerged from recent studies of neuroprotection, compared with haemodynamic and hemorheologic factors, knowledge of vascular factors of ischemic stroke is rather limited. In practical terms, any strategy shown to reduce the incidence of fatal and nonfatal vascular events can be termed "vascular protection", including anti-thrombotic and anti-hypertensive therapies, as well as agents that directly benefit vascular endothelium. Vascular events include myocardial infarction, stroke, and claudication. Factors involved in these events include statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers. In traditional Chinese medicine, the principles of "activating blood circulation to remove stasis", "tonifying the kidney and replenishing the essence", "dispelling pathogenic wind and removing obstruction from the meridians", and "warming Yang and promoting water metabolism" are possibly related to vascular protection. However, more evidence is needed to correlate these positive effects with vascular protection.