Objective — to study an effect of nonspecific cytoprotective therapy on clinical manifestations, disease course and indicators of stress system in patients with different stages of chronic cerebral ischemia (CCI). Material and methods. Authors examined 266 patients with CCI, aged from 35 to 55 years. The patients received basic and nonspecific cytoprotective therapy. The dynamics of subjective and objective symptoms of encephalopathy, clinical outcomes after a year of observation, and the state of stress system were analyzed. An effect of therapy on stress was assessed by the dynamics of blood pressure reactions to stress. Results and conclusion. An open randomized comparative study has shown that the inclusion of the drug with nonspecific cytoprotective actions (cytoflavin) in the therapeutic complex improves the therapeutic effect on the clinical manifestations of CCI. The higher frequency of favorable outcomes over one year of follow-up is associated with the optimization of stress system activity under nonspecific cytoprotective therapy and the increase in stress resistance.