Findings from the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) showed treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) did not slow the progression of kidney disease in the majority of participants.
 
The results of the study highlight the importance of preventing initial kidney damage, the critical need to identify modifiable risk factors and the requirement to test therapies at the earliest stages in chronic kidney disease (CKD). The authors suggest several strategies to manage modifiable risk factors early in the course of hypertensive kidney disease: nocturnal blood pressure control, aldosterone blockade, combined ACE inhibitor-ARB therapy, fish oil supplementation, bicarbonate therapy and sodium restriction. 

This article originally appeared in the June 2008 issue of Kidney Beginnings: The Electronic Newsletter.