- Patients with hypertension and those with micro- and macroangiopathy, including nephropathy [urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) > 20 μg/min], retinopathy (at least one microaneurysm or hemorrhage or exudates in either eye), neuropathy (pain in extremities, paresthesias, and absent tendon reﬂexes and/or absent vibration sense), coronary artery disease (myocardial infarction, ischemia electrocardiogram changes, and angina), cerebrovascular disease (transient ischemic attack or stroke), and peripheral vascular disease (the abolition of one or more peripheral arterial pulse and/or intermittent claudication and/or a past history of revascularization of the lower limbs) were excluded from the study.