A one hypothesis to explain some vestibular peripheral disorders is their association with life style. Thus, studies with young adults are relevant.Aim: to analyze the prevalence of dynamic balance alterations in young adults and their possible association with life style variables, health and negative emotional states (since they can impact the outcome). Materials and Methods:we carried out a non-probabilistic cross-sectional, clinical-retrospective study with young adults (18-32 years of age) from a university with 751 individuals, with a mean age of 22.45± 3.32 years. Life style, health and negative emotional states (NES) variables -depression, stress and anxiety, were collected by means of an interview. The Unterberger test was used in order to check for indications of dynamic balance alterations. Individuals with altered dynamic balance (ADB) were compared to those without these alterations (controls).Results: From our sample, 642 (83.6%) had less than 45º of deviation, while 109 (14.2%) had greater than 45º deviation and were the considered with ADB. The ADB group had a greater prevalence of smoking, alcohol abuse/dependence, high blood pressure and NES.Conclusion: the study highlights the occurrence of ADB which needs to be corroborated in future studies. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2010;76(3):392-8. ORIGINAL ARTICLE BJORL

Ef ferent auditory pathways modulate outer hair cells of the cochlea, protect against noise, and improve the detection of sound sources in noisy environments. Genotoxicity is DNA damage. Aim:To study the association between auditory pathway efferent functions with genotoxic markers. The study also considered smoking and gender as two main variables. Methods:A prospective-clinical, quantitative, cross-sectional, contemporary study. The function of efferent auditory pathways and genotoxicity tests in 60 healthy young subjects were assessed. Results:The mean age of subjects was 24.86 years +/-3.68 years; there were 30 males and 30 females, 15 of each gender smokers and 15 non-smokers. Male smokers had a higher incidence of DPOEA suppression effect at 2000 and 6000 Hz in the left ear; female smokers had a higher prevalence of complaints of difficulty to hear in noisy environments; smokers and women had a higher mean DNA damage; subjects with complaints of hearing loss and tinnitus had higher genotoxicity. Conclusions:In young normal-hearing adults that complain about efferent auditory pathways functions, such as tinnitus and hearing impairment, there are possible associations with genotoxicity; interactions between gender and smoking are considered.