remote preconditioning

Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is an experimental medical procedure that aims to reduce the severity of ischaemic injury to an organ such as the heart or the brain, most commonly in the situation of a heart attack or a stroke, or during procedures such as heart surgery when the heart may temporary suffer ischaemia during the operation, by triggering the body's natural protection against tissue injury. Although noted to have some benefits in experimental models in animals, this is still an experimental procedure in humans and initial evidence from small studies have not been replicated in larger clinical trials. Successive clinical trials have failed to identify evidence supporting a protective role in humans as of 2015. Two large studies completed in 2023 had re-ignited interest in this technique with positive results.
The procedure involves repeated, temporary cessation of blood flow to a limb to create ischemia (lack of oxygen and glucose) in the tissue. This "conditioning" activates the body's natural protective physiology against reperfusion injury and the tissue damage caused by low oxygen levels—a protection present in many mammals. RIC essentially mimics the cardio-protective effects of exercise; in fact, exercise can be considered a form of RIC in which the stimulus is distant from the organ being protected. RIC has been termed "exercise in a device", especially suited for patients who are unable or unwilling to work out.

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