No evidence exists at present to support the use of amphetamine after stroke .
INTRODUCTION The use of drugs to enhance recovery ( " rehabilitation pharmacology " ) has been assessed .
Amphetamine can improve outcome in experimental models of stroke , and several small clinical trials have assessed its use in stroke .
Blood Pressure and Clinical Outcomes in the International Stroke Trial
Background and Purpose — Among patients with acute stroke , high blood pressure is often associated with poor outcome , although the reason is unclear . We analyzed data from the International Stroke Trial ( IST ) to explore the relationship between  systolic blood pressure ( SBP ) , subsequent clinical events over the next 2 weeks , and functional outcome at 6 months in patients with acute stroke . Methods — We included in the analysis 17 398 patients from IST with confirmed ischemic stroke . A single measurement of SBP was made immediately before r and omization . Clinical events within 14 days of r and omization were recorded : recurrent ischemic stroke , symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage , death result ing from presumed cerebral edema , fatal coronary heart disease , and death . Survival and dependency were assessed at 6 months . Outcomes were adjusted for age , sex , clinical stroke syndrome , time to r and omization , consciousness level , atrial fibrillation , and treatment allocation ( aspirin , unfractionated heparin , both , or neither ) . Results — A U-shaped relationship was found between baseline SBP and both early death and late death or dependency : early death increased by 17.9 % for every 10 mm Hg below 150 mm Hg ( P < 0.0001 ) and by 3.8 % for every 10 mm Hg above 150 mm Hg ( P = 0.016 ) . The rate of recurrent ischemic stroke within 14 days increased by 4.2 % for every 10–mm Hg increase in SBP ( P = 0.023 ) ; this association was present in both fatal and nonfatal recurrence . Death result ing from presumed cerebral edema was independently associated with high SBP ( P = 0.004 ) . No relationship between symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and SBP was seen . Low SBP was associated with a severe clinical stroke ( total anterior circulation syndrome ) and an excess of deaths from coronary heart disease ( P = 0.002 ) . Conclusions — Both high blood pressure and low blood pressure were independent prognostic factors for poor outcome , relationships that appear to be mediated in part by increased rates of early recurrence and death result ing from presumed cerebral edema in patients with high blood pressure and increased coronary heart disease events in those with low blood pressure . The occurrence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 14 days was independent of SBP
No evidence exists at present to support the use of amphetamine after stroke .
INTRODUCTION The use of drugs to enhance recovery ( " rehabilitation pharmacology " ) has been assessed .
Amphetamine can improve outcome in experimental models of stroke , and several small clinical trials have assessed its use in stroke .