Creating one problem to try and fix another: the saga of ischemic preconditioning

In this issue of Brain and Behavior, Vasdekis et al. (2013) thoroughly review the theory behind remote ischemic preconditioning and the results to date of its application among patients with atherosclerotic narrowing of arteries supplying various organs including the brain. In these various trials and observations, clinicians and researchers artificially created ischemia to limbs to reduce ischemic injury to organs threatened by preexisting atherosclerotic lesions. By doing so, they, in effect, created one pathological condition (albeit theoretically a completely reversible one) to treat another persistent condition. I plan in this editorial to place ischemic preconditioning into a historical context, to critique its potential benefits, risks, and limitations, and to try to look ahead at its future applications if any.