According to statistics from the World Health Organization, stroke and ischemic heart disease have always been the main causes of death in the past 15 years. The patients with stroke mainly show hemiplegia, facial paralysis, slurring of speech and even sudden faint and unconsciousness, and they suffer from sequelae such as numbness of the body, facial paralysis, hemiplegia, and aphasia. Currently, patents with stroke cannot completely recover from sequelae with assistance of any medical technique, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients and brings a heavy burden to society and families consequently. Treatment methods in western medicine for stroke include specific treatment represented by improvement of cerebral vascular circulation, neuroprotection, hyperbaric oxygen, moderate hypothermia, and medication of antiplatelet aggregation agents, endovascular treatment represented by thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy, and stent angioplasty. The stroke treatment by acupuncture and moxibustion in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been applied for a long history with unique therapeutic effects, which was clearly recorded in the TCM classic The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing) more than 2000 years ago. Based on the treatment experience of predecessors, modern acupuncture and moxibustion workers have made continuous innovations, and greatly improved the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of stroke with the help of modern science and technology. As acupuncture and moxibustion in TCM are accepted by the world, the acupuncture and moxibustion methods for the treatment of stroke have gradually attracted the attention of academic field. However, the efficacy and safety of many Chinese medicinal materials, acupuncture, and moxibustion in the treatment of stroke remain to be confirmed by more high-quality randomized controlled trials, the mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion in TCM involved in the treatment of stroke needs to be clarified urgently, and many new Chinese medicinal materials with cellular activity on stroke are under research. In these aspects, Chinese medical staff and researchers have accumulated rich experience and carried out fruitful research.

Since 2014, Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Acupuncture Research, China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica, Chinese Journal of Nursing, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica, Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin, Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, Chinese Pharmaceutical Journal, The Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Journal of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Chinese Archives of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liaoning Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs, Disease Surveillance, etc. have successively joined the Journal Translation Project (JTP, http://jtp.cnki.net/bilingual). As of 2020, 4 074 articles from these journals have been selected into JTP and published in both Chinese and English, which enhances the international influence of these journals. To further increase the international influence of these TCM journals, and make the research progress of TCM in stroke treatment accessible to more readers, CNKI and the editorial offices of the journals organized experts to choose outstanding, and selected 83 research articles on stroke treatment. These articles were included into Stroke, one book in China’s Medicine Progress Series. All the articles included are recommended by the editorial offices of the journals for the first publication. The book contains sections of Theoretical Analysis, Analysis of Effective Components, Mechanism Study, Clinical Study, and Nursing Research. Supported by scientific methodology, it fully demonstrates the advances of TCM treatment in stroke, with objective findings concluded. This book is a compilation of the English version of the articles originally published in Chinese.

As the editor-in-chief of this book, I hope this book, rich in effective experience and therapeutic approaches of TCM, can be taken as a scientific and practical reference in the treatment of stroke worldwide to make Chinese medical journals well-known to the world, as well as the health science and methods carried by acupuncture and moxibustion in TCM.

Editor-in-chief: LIU Baoyan