Remote ischaemic conditioning for stroke prevention

Simple low-cost treatments to reduce the risk of stroke are needed and remote ischaemic conditioning might be such a treatment.1 This technique induces brief periods of ischaemia–reperfusion in a limb, with the intention of protecting a remote organ (eg, brain or heart) from injury.2 Clinically, the ischaemic challenge is achieved by the transient occlusion of arterial blood flow, typically in one or both arms. With a blood pressure cuff on the arm inflated above systolic pressure, the limb becomes ischaemic, and the systemic reaction is thought to result in a combination of humoral and neuronal responses that might protect the brain and other organs from ischaemic injury—eg, by promoting cell survival and repair while inhibiting apoptosis and inflammation.