Cerebral Vasodilators

MANY drugs described as cerebral vasodilators have been in use for over 20 years. Most were originally developed as peripheral vasodilators and were then used to improve cerebral blood flow in patients with cerebrovascular disease or dementia. These disorders were assumed to be due to progressive cerebral arteriosclerosis and ischemia, and it was logical to suppose that effective cerebral vasodilators would be of clinical value.Unfortunately, this basic assumption has been shown to be incorrect. Dementia is not primarily due to cerebral ischemia. Previous reviews have criticized the use of these drugs, for this and other reasons.1 2 3 Cerebral blood flow . . .