Cerebrovascular stenosis should be “unblocked” regularly. According to the pharmacological effects of commonly used drugs such as Danshen, Haematoxylin and Ginkgo, these drugs can be used, but they cannot prevent or treat cerebrovascular stenosis, because they cannot eliminate or counteract the risk factors that cause cerebrovascular stenosis. Therefore, the treatment and prevention of cerebrovascular stenosis must be directed at its risk factors. What drugs should be taken and why, here are some answers to your questions. Anti-platelet drugs The first drug is to prevent and control thrombosis, that is, anti-platelet drugs and anticoagulants; commonly used anti-platelet drugs include aspirin, Bolivar, and anticoagulants include warfarin, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, etc. Anti-hypertensive drugs The second drug is antihypertensive drugs to prevent and control the damage caused by high blood pressure to blood vessels, and to protect the normal blood supply of 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. Lipid-lowering drugs The third type of drugs is lipid-lowering drugs, which reduce 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. Commonly used drugs include atorvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin, etc. Other drugs For patients with other diseases such as diabetes, they also need to take drugs to lower blood sugar. Therefore patients with cerebral stenosis 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 a cerebral stenosis, ischemic stroke is likely to occur. After a 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 the drugs work? Some strokes are caused by the loss of small blood vessels in the brain due to chronic high blood pressure and then progressive occlusion, while others are caused by a blood clot that has formed in the heart or blood vessels and is blocked by blood flow into the brain. These drugs are used to prevent ischemic stroke by blocking the above process, i.e., blocking the formation of blood vessel damage and blood clots. It is up to the clinician to decide what drugs to take, how many to take, and how long to take them. However, is it true that if you take the above mentioned drugs for cerebral stenosis, everything will be fine? The answer is obviously no! In the next issue, we will introduce the surgical treatment of cerebral stenosis in detail.