After signing informed consent, enrolled patients started treatment with ACEi. We decided to prescribe to all patients the same drug (ramipril) at the same dosage (5 mg/day). All patients were examined every 2 months during the first year of follow-up and every 6 months thereafter. At each visit, they underwent a complete physical examination. If the target blood pressure of <140/90 mmHg was not achieved with ramipril monotherapy, addition of other antihypertensive drug(s) was allowed. Patients complaining adverse side effects attributed to ramipril were switched to losartan (50 mg/day). The patients were also prescribed a normal protein (1 gram/kg/day) and moderately salt-restricted (6-8 grams/day) diet throughout the study.