Cerebral ischemia is an ischemic condition where the brain or parts of the brain do not receive enough blood flow to maintain normal neurological function. Cerebral ischemia can be the result of various diseases, or the result of arterial obstruction such as strangulation. Similarly to cerebral hypoxia, severe or prolonged cerebral ischemia will result in unconsciousness, brain damage or death, mediated by the ischemic cascade. In medicine, ischemia (Greek ισχαιμία, isch- is restriction, hema or haema is blood) is a restriction in blood supply, generally due to factors in the blood vessels, with resultant damage or dysfunction of tissue. ... The human brain In animals, the brain (enkephalos) (Greek for in the skull), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. ... Blood flow is the flow of blood in the cardiovascular system. ... Neurology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the central and peripheral nervous systems. ... A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. ... Section of an artery An artery or arterial is also a class of highway. ... Cerebral hypoxia (the pathological condition is called hypoxic encephalopathy) is to a hypoxic condition in which there is a decrease of oxygen supply to the brain or parts of the brain despite adequate blood flow (compare with cerebral ischemia). ... Unconsciousness is the absence of consciousness. ... Brain damage or brain injury is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. ... For other uses, see Death (disambiguation), Dead (disambiguation), or Death (band). ... The ischemic cascade is a series of biochemical reactions that take place in the brain after seconds to minutes of ischemia (inadequate blood supply) (Arnold, 2003). ...

An [http:// /content/full/79/4/1431 extensive review] of mechanisms by which ischemia damages the nervous system has been published by Peter Lipton.

A related condition is subcortical ischemic depression, also known as vascular depression. This condition is most commonly seen in elderly depressed patients. Late onset depression is increasingly seen as a distinct variety of depression, and is commonly detected with an MRI. Subcortical ischemic depression, also known as vascular depression is a medical condition most commonly seen in elderly depressed patients. ...

References

• Chang, Steven; Doty, James; Skirboll, Stephen; Steinberg, Gary. Cerebral ischemia . cgi.stanford.edu. URL last accessed February 26, 2006.
• Ramirez, Robert; Gulli, Laith. Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders: Hypoxia. health.enotes.com. URL last accessed February 26, 2006. (PDF format)