{"id":138873,"date":"2025-08-31T01:28:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T05:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/?p=138873"},"modified":"2026-01-28T14:58:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:58:57","slug":"lose-af-weight-loss-alone-does-not-improve-af-symptoms-or-burden-in-older-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/?p=138873","title":{"rendered":"LOSE-AF: Weight Loss Alone Does Not Improve AF Symptoms or Burden in Older Adults"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Key Points:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LOSE-AF is the first randomized trial to rigorously assess the effect of structured weight loss on AF symptoms in older adults with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although participants in the intervention group achieved sustained and safe weight loss, there was no significant difference in AF symptom burden or recurrence compared with usual care.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The findings challenge existing recommendations for weight loss in older patients with persistent AF and suggest that weight loss alone is insufficient to improve rhythm outcomes in this population.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia that disproportionately affects older adults, increasing the risk of stroke, heart failure, and diminished quality of life. While weight loss is widely recommended as part of AF management\u2014based largely on studies in younger populations\u2014evidence supporting this approach in older individuals with persistent AF has been limited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the 2025 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Madrid, researchers from the University of Oxford\u2019s Radcliffe Department of Medicine and Oxford Population Health presented findings from LOSE-AF, a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of a structured weight-loss intervention in older adults with persistent AF. The trial enrolled 118 patients aged 60\u201385 years with overweight or obesity and persistent AF who had been referred for cardioversion. Participants were randomized to either an 8-month commercial low-calorie diet and behavioral support program or to usual care with written lifestyle advice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 8 months, the intervention group achieved an average weight loss of 10 kg (\u224810% of baseline weight) compared to 3 kg in the control group. This difference remained evident 3.5 years later, confirming the durability and safety of the intervention. Importantly, no serious adverse events were associated with the weight-loss program, and there was no observed decline in physical performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this, the intervention did not lead to improvements in AF symptoms, AF burden, or structural and functional measures of cardiac remodeling. Rates of AF recurrence and the need for repeat rhythm control procedures were similar between groups over the median 3.5-year follow-up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOur study demonstrates that weight loss in older adults with AF is achievable and safe, but it does not translate into meaningful improvements in arrhythmia burden or symptom relief,\u201d said Dr. Matteo Sclafani, the study\u2019s lead author. Dr. Rohan Wijesurendra, Senior Clinical Research Fellow at Oxford Population Health, added: \u201cThese findings suggest that while weight loss has general health benefits, additional therapies are needed to effectively manage AF in older adults.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the British Heart Foundation, LOSE-AF (NCT03713775) provides critical evidence that may prompt reassessment of current AF management guidelines for older populations.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points: LOSE-AF is the first randomized trial to rigorously assess the effect of structured weight loss on AF symptoms in older adults with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Although participants in the intervention group achieved sustained and safe weight loss, there was no significant difference in AF symptom burden or recurrence compared with usual care. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40615,"featured_media":138874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900,8],"tags":[45,901,47,185],"ppma_author":[1069],"class_list":{"0":"post-138873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-esc-2025","8":"category-news","9":"tag-conference","10":"tag-esc2025","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-news","13":"author-hassan-adam-alhassan-md"},"authors":[{"term_id":1069,"user_id":40615,"is_guest":0,"slug":"hassan-adam-alhassan-md","display_name":"Hassan Adam Alhassan MD","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cc8318e58bf0ad1548b042cbb04e2e62466d8fe5780d7b1f138246f2c21b2b5?s=96&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/40615"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138875,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138873\/revisions\/138875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/138874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138873"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiologynownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fppma_author&post=138873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}