Stroke has become the first cause of death in China’s disease spectrum, and ischemic stroke is the main type of stroke, accounting for 80% of all strokes. Strengthening the prevention and treatment of ischemic stroke is an important issue in China’s health field, and new guidelines and consensus have been published one after another to guide clinical practice. The following are the answers to the questions of what, how and why to take medication after an ischemic stroke. What medications should I take? Many patients have to take more than 3 drugs after an ischemic stroke, which may seem like too many drugs, but in fact each drug has a different effect. The first drug is to prevent and control thrombosis, which means antiplatelet drugs and anticoagulants. The second drug is to control high blood pressure and prevent damage to blood vessels caused by high blood pressure, and to protect the normal blood supply to brain tissue. There are many antihypertensive drugs, which should be applied according to medical advice. Enalapril, captopril, lenopril, valsartan, felodipine, diltiazem, hydrochlorothiazide, etc. are all commonly used antihypertensive drugs. Some people need two or even two or more antihypertensive drugs to get satisfactory blood pressure lowering effect, and the combination of ACEI class and ARB class (such as enalapril and valsartan, etc.) is more commonly used. The third drug reduces the level of blood lipids, especially the level of “low-density lipoprotein” in the blood, because the latter is closely related to the narrowing of atherosclerotic plaques, and this drug can protect the blood vessels from damage and reduce the possibility of plaque formation. Commonly used drugs include atorvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin, etc. For patients with other diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypoglycemic drugs are also required. Therefore patients with cerebral ischemic stroke need to take at least three medications, all of which are necessary if there are no special circumstances, and they should be taken correctly and on time as prescribed by the doctor. Why do I need to take medication? After an ischemic stroke, taking these medications by mouth can reduce or even completely prevent the chance of another ischemic stroke and improve the quality of life. How do medications work? Some strokes are caused by the loss of small blood vessels in the brain due to chronic high blood pressure, and some are caused by the loss of blood clots that form in the heart or blood vessels and enter the blood vessels in the brain and block them. These drugs prevent ischemic stroke by blocking these processes, i.e., by blocking blood vessel damage and clot formation. Ischemic stroke prevention is important!