Apoptosis--or, as I prefer, ischemic neurolysis--is a deadly process that may doom the neuron and its owner. But there's a silver lining here, and by now you may have guessed what it  is.

Apoptosis is a regulated process. In other words, there are buttons that turn it on and buttons that turn it off. Moreover, apoptosis takes time. For physicians interested in preserving neurons after brain ischemia, that's cause for hope. All four of the Horsemen are potential targets for therapy, but apoptosis is particularly inviting, because the cellular mechanisms for suppressing it are already in place.

And that's as good a place as any to segue into the next  phase of this syllabus program--the potential for therapy.

Figure. There's hope.