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HEART HELP: The secret to reducing the effects of a common but potentially deadly heart condition has been unlocked by a group of Adelaide researchers. #TenNews

Published in the heart journal Europace, the researchers found that a 10% loss in weight along with management of associated risk factors, can reverse the progression of the disease.

"The study showed that if obese people lose more than 10% of their weight and subsequent management of other risks to their lifestyle, they can reverse the progression of the disease. People who lost weight experienced fewer symptoms, required less treatment and had better outcomes. Those who previously had sustained symptoms experienced only intermittent symptoms or indeed stopped experiencing AF entirely," says Ms Middeldorp.

Read the full story here.

Journal Reference:

Melissa E Middeldorp, Rajeev K Pathak, Megan Meredith, Abhinav B Mehta, Adrian D Elliott, Rajiv Mahajan, Darragh Twomey, Celine Gallagher, Jeroen M L Hendriks, Dominik Linz, R Doug McEvoy, Walter P Abhayaratna, Jonathan M Kalman, Dennis H Lau, Prashanthan Sanders. PREVEntion and regReSsive Effect of weight-loss and risk factor modification on Atrial Fibrillation: the REVERSE-AF study. EP Europace, 2018; DOI: 10.1093/europace/euy117

The Centre for Heart Rhythm's research has made International and local headlines. See the headlines by clicking on the icons below.

Jessica Stanley from Channel 9 news reported on a collaborative clinical trial that 'for the first time, it found that the minimally invasive procedure was associated with a greater improvement in survival rates for atrial fibrillation patients compared to traditional treatments.'

"By eliminating AF, we've found this result of prolonging people's lives," said Professor Prash Sanders, Director of the Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders at the University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Watch and/or read the full story from Channel 9 news.

Celine Gallagher (RN, PhD candidate) won the Best Research Paper Presented Award in the Research Prize Session at the 2017 annual conference of the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association (ACRA) in Perth.

Celine presented her work on trends in Atrial Fibrillation (AF) related hospitalisations in Australia in a 20-year period of time. She demonstrated the tremendous increase in AF-related hospitalisations and that AF has surpassed other cardiovascular conditions like heart failure and myocardial infarction as a primary diagnosis for hospitalisation in Australia.

On top of this fantastic prize, Celine was awarded the honourable People's Choice Best Presentation Award for the best presentation at the ACRA 2017 Conference.

Congratulations Celine for these well-deserved awards and well done!

Celine is a PhD candidate with the Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders and her research focuses on specialised integrated AF care to improve patient outcomes and reduce the health care burden.