4.1.2. Participants and Randomization
chronic kidney disease, elevated fasting blood glucose, hypoxia, cirrhosis, dyslipidemia
HEPATITIS B, HYPOXIA, CIRRHOSIS, DYSLIPIDEMIA
Eighty-six patients with MS aged 29 to 74 years who had been in a stable clinical condition within the past 3 months were invited to participate in the study. MS was defined according to National Institutes of Health guidelines as the presence of three or more of the following characteristics: waist circumference greater than 102 cm in men and greater than 89 cm in women, blood pressure ≥ 130/85 mm Hg for SBP and DBP, dyslipidemia (triglyceride level ≥ 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol < 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) in men or <50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) in women, and elevated fasting blood glucose levels (≥100 mg/dL [5.6 mmol/L]). All subjects had the following exclusion criteria: individual intolerance to hypoxia, cirrhosis, Child–Pugh class C, patients serologically positive for hepatitis B and C, chronic kidney disease (GFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 mThe study included 65 patients who were randomly assigned to either the IHHE group (32 patients) or the sham group. Withdrawal of consent, intolerance to hypoxia, territorial inconvenience, and inability to perform liver ultrasonography were reasons for excluding 21 patients from the study. We performed a simple blinded prospective randomized controlled study in two parallel groups. Participants were randomized using a 1:1 allocation ratio. Baseline anthropometrics, clinical characteristics, and medications are presented in Groups were matched for gender, age, presence of MS components, and comorbidities. Patients were asked to adhere to their daily food intake, physical activity, prescribed medications, and habitual lifestyle throughout the study period.