METHOD AND ANALYSIS: A randomized, nonblinded, controlled trial will be carried out by recruiting a total of 66 eligible allergic rhinitis patients who fulfill the inclusion criteria from a university health center. The subjects will be randomly assigned into 2 groups: intervention group receiving facial candling treatment and control group (no treatment given). Samples of blood and nasal mucus will be collected right before and after intervention. Samples collected will be analyzed. The primary outcomes are the changes in the level of SP in both blood and mucus samples between both groups. The secondary outcomes include the levels of inflammatory mediators (ie, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)-3, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-13) and the severity of allergic rhinitis symptoms as measured by a visual analogous scale and QoL using the Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ).
ETHICAL AND TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study protocols are approved from the Ethical and Research Committee of the Universiti Teknologi MARA (REC/113/15). The trial is registered under the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12616000299404). The trial was registered on 03/07/2016 and the first patient was enrolled on 10/12/2016.
CONCLUSION: Facial candling is one of the unique treatments using candles to reduce the severity of symptoms and inflammation. This is the first ever study conducted on facial candling that will give rise to new knowledge underlying the effects of facial candling on severity of symptoms and inflammation relief mechanism mediated by substance P and inflammatory mediators.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving community-living, healthy subjects aged between 45-90 years from the state of Selangor, Malaysia, were invited to attend a bone health check-up. Subjects with diseases known to affect bone metabolism or were on treatment for osteoporosis (OP) were excluded. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Lateral and antero-posterior view lumbar spine x-rays were performed and VF was determined by the semi-quantitative Genant method.
RESULTS: A total of 386 subjects were studied. Asymptomatic morphometric VF were found in 44 (11.4%) subjects. T12 was the most common vertebrae to be fractured. The prevalence of VF was significantly higher in menopausal women (12.4%) compared to non-menopausal women, in those above the age of 60 (18.5%), in those of Chinese ethnicity (16.5%), in those with a low body fat percentage (17.1%) and among those with OP (27.0%). The mean (standard deviation) 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were significantly higher in those with VF compared to those without VF, 67.64 (23.50) and 57.47 (21.71) nmol/L, respectively. However, after multiple regression analysis, age over 60 years and OP on DXA BMD measurement were the only significant associated factors for VF.
CONCLUSION: Overall, 11.4% of a selected Malaysian urban population had asymptomatic morphometric VF. Age over 60 years and OP on DXA BMD measurement, but not 25(OH)D levels, were associated with VF.