In early 2007, when the French presidential campaign was in full swing, President Chirac was suddenly admitted to the hospital for treatment of his illness. Clifford, a leading vascular surgeon, believes that “it is almost certain that Chirac’s condition is like a mini-stroke, in which a blood clot is dislodged from a blood vessel and clots in the cerebral or retinal artery, causing visual and physical impairment, which could be the beginning of a serious problem…” This is certainly an alarm from the brain that something is wrong with the blood vessels within the brain and hemiplegia, aphasia, incontinence or even vegetation may follow. What is the relationship between stroke and carotid artery? At the beginning of last century, American scientists reported that carotid artery thrombosis caused blindness and soon afterwards hemiplegia. In China, about 1.5 million cases of acute stroke occur each year, and an average of 4,000 cases of acute stroke occur each day, and there are about 35-45 million cases of stroke patients with different degrees of disability in the population, many of whom will have a second or even a third stroke, and 20%-30% of strokes are caused by the progressive development of carotid stenosis. What is carotid artery stenosis? Carotid artery stenosis is atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries, lipid deposition, hardening and narrowing of the blood vessels, and reduced blood flow to the brain. Carotid artery stenosis has the following symptoms: transient darkness, visual impairment, hemiparesis, hemianesthesia, aphasia, etc. It is important to visit a hospital to prevent a possible stroke. What can we do in the face of a possible stroke? If there are symptoms of brain ischemia such as vertigo, black haze, tinnitus, blurred vision, headache, dizziness or even hemiplegia, aphasia, episodic syncope, etc. recently, and you happen to be a middle-aged or elderly person, the necessary examination is indispensable, and vascular ultrasound is the first choice, which can initially determine whether you have vascular stenosis, and if the examination does have ≥50% vascular stenosis, you can choose carotid endarterectomy or carotid stenting and vascular Angioplasty. According to a large number of case studies, surgery has been shown to reduce the absolute risk of ipsilateral stroke by 17% and the relative risk by 71%, and recent data suggest that the benefits of surgery are independent of risk factors such as age, sex, and stroke. Patients with >50% stenosis can benefit from surgery. The Department of Vascular Surgery at Huashan Hospital has performed surgery and interventions on nearly 100 patients in recent years without major complications. How can it be prevented and treated? Patients with the above symptoms should take oral anticoagulants such as aspirin or Raltegravate as prescribed by the doctor to prevent thrombosis and unstable plaque dislodgement, and treat hypertension, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, homocysteinemia, etc. Regular review at the hospital and correction of bad habits such as obesity, smoking, lack of physical activity, heavy drinking, etc. For the sake of our healthy life, please tell your relatives around you to change bad habits, treat cardiovascular diseases in time, pay attention to whether carotid stenosis, go to the hospital for examination in time to prevent stroke.