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Vest ibular disorders are common among the elderly, mainly resulting in dizziness and imbalance -symptoms which can impact daily routine activities. Aim:To study the correlation between body balance and functional capacity and a comparison of risk of falls, actual falls and the functional capacity of the elderly with chronic vestibular dysfunctions. Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional, clinical and experimental study with 50 senior citizens -60 to 86 years, with chronic peripheral vestibular dysfunction. These participants underwent body balance assessment by the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and functional capacity assessment by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). The data was tested using the Spearman correlation and comparison tests, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis, being α=5% (0.05).Results: There was a significant correlation between the total DGI score and all FIM scores, especially the total score (r=0.447; p<0.001) and loss of functional capacity in elderly patients with the highest risk of falling (p<0.001). Conclusion:There is a positive correlation between body balance and functional capacity in elderly patients with peripheral vestibular disorders, that is: the better the balance, the better the individual's functional capacity. In addition, a worse functional capacity increases the individual's risk of falling. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2011;77(6):791-8. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

RESUMOOs exercícios físicos têm sido associados a importantes e variados benefícios à saúde, como aqueles relacionados a função imune específica e não-específica, destacando-se, nesta última, o processo inflamató-rio. Contudo, dependendo do tipo, intensidade, freqüência e duração, os exercícios também podem causar certos prejuízos ao organismo. De fato, estudo prévio mostrou que a hipernocicepção de origem inflamatória, em ratos, foi influenciada pelo protocolo de exercícios físicos realizados em esteira ergométrica. Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar os efeitos dos exercícios físicos de baixa e alta intensidade sobre a resposta inflamatória aguda. Para isso, foram utilizados ratos machos, adultos, da linhagem Wistar, os quais foram submetidos (grupo treinado) ou não (grupo não treinado) a exercícios em esteira ergométrica. A inflamação aguda foi induzida pela injeção de carragenina-0,5% no coxim da pata posterior esquerda dos ratos, sendo o volume de edema inflamatório agudo mensurado por meio de pletismografia, antes e após 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 e 24 horas da indução do processo inflamatório. A análise estatística dos resultados mostrou aumento significante no volume de edema inflamatório nos momentos H 1 , H 2 e H 3 (P<0,01) e nos momentos H 4 e H 6 (P<0,05) nos animais treinados em baixa intensidade. Entretanto, não ocorreram alterações estatisticamente significantes no volume de edema inflamatório agudo em nenhum dos momentos avaliados (P>0,05) nos animais do grupo treinado em alta intensidade em relação aos não treinados. Concluiu-se, então, que os exercícios físicos de baixa intensidade, em esteira ergométrica, aumentaram o volume de edema inflamatório agudo em ratos, provavelmente ocasionado pelo aumento na síntese e secreção de prostaglandinas e/ou aumento nos níveis plasmáticos das citocinas IL-1, IL-6 e TNF-alfa entre outros fatores. Tal fato não foi observado com os exercícios de alta intensidade, mostrando assim, a influência da intensidade, freqüência e duração dos exercícios sobre este parâmetro inflamatório.Palavras-chave: exercícios físicos, esteira ergométrica, inflamação aguda, edema, ratos. ABSTRACTPhysical exercises have been associated with important and varied benefits to health, as those related to the specific and non-specific immune function, stressing the inflammatory process in the latter. However, depending on their type, intensity, frequency and duration, exercises can also cause certain harm to the organism. Actually, previous research has demonstrated that the hypernociception of inflammatory origin in rats was influenced by the physical exercises protocol performed on treadmill. Thus, the aim of this research was to study the effects of high and low intensity physical exercises on acute inflammatory response. Therefore, male adult Wistar rats were submitted (trained group) or not (untrained group) to physical exercises on a treadmill. Acute inflammation was induced by a 0.5% carrageenin injection into the plantar tissue of the left hind paw of each rat and the acute infla...

Physical exercise practice is an important habit to maintain the physical and emotional well-being of those who regularly adopt it, and can bring great benefits to health. However, depending on the type, intensity, frequency and duration of the exercises, they can also do a certain degree of harm to the organism. As a benefit, the role of physical exercise is described in the specific and non-specific immune function and, in the latter, the inflammatory process stands out. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to show the effects of low and high intensity physical exercises on hypernociception, and to evaluate the body mass and the relative weight of some organs in rats. For the study, male adult Wistar rats were used and submitted (trained group) or not submitted (non-trained group) to physical exercises on an ergometric treadmill. The acute inflammation was induced by an injection of carrageenin-0.5% into the plantar tissue of the left hind paw of each rat and the nociception was measured by the plantar test before and after 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 24 hours. At the end of the evaluations, the rats were submitted to deep anesthesia until their euthanasia, to collect and weigh the adrenal glands, heart, spleen and kidneys, and to subsequent histopathological study of those tissues. The statistical analysis of the results showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) of the hypernoniception threshold in H 2 , H 3 , H 4 and H 6 moments in animals trained at high intensity. There was also a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in body mass besides hypertrophy of the adrenal glands and heart and an increase in the kidneys relative weight of the rats trained at high intensity, in addition to adrenal hypertrophy of the animals trained at low intensity. There were no statistically significant changes in the other parameters evaluated in this study. We concluded that physical exercises on a treadmill were capable of changing the nociception, body mass and the relative weight of some organs, but in a way that was dependent on the exercises protocol applied to the animals.

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