Longevity & AgingHeart Failure Slashes Exercise Capacity in Older Adults and Worsens With Age
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in Geroscience analyzed 38 studies to quantify how heart failure (HF) impairs peak oxygen uptake (VO₂peak) in older adults. Researchers found that older HF patients averaged nearly 9 mL/kg/min lower VO₂peak compared to age-matched controls — a clinically significant gap reflecting both cardiac output and heart rate deficits. Importantly, the decline did not plateau: VO₂peak fell progressively from the young-old (60–69), to middle-old (70–79), to oldest-old (80+) groups. These findings highlight the compounding burden of aging and heart failure on cardiorespiratory fitness, with direct implications for exercise prescription, prognosis, and rehabilitative care in an aging population.
