abstractwith the growing understanding of the mechanism of cell death in ischemia , new approaches for treatment such as neuroprotection have emerged . 
 the basic aim of this strategy is to interfere with the events of the ischemic cascade , blocking the pathological processes and preventing the death of nerve cells in the ischemic penumebra . 
 this concept involves inhibition of the pathological molecular events which eventually leads to the influx of calcium , activation of free radicals and neuronal death . despite encouraging data from experimental animal models , 
 all clinical trials of neuroprotective therapies have to date been unsuccessful . 
 this article reviews some of the reasons for the failure of neuroprotection in the clinical trials so far . 
 despite all the negative reports , we believe it would be wrong to give up at this point , since there is still reasonable hope of finding an effective neuroprotection for stroke .