Heart disease is the leading killer of Americans today and an inactive lifestyle is one of the top risk factors for heart disease.

Pauline Howell has a family history of strokes, she says, "I walk with my neighbor every morning, rain or shine we go for our walk. I hope that walking will help me maintain good health."

Pauline has the right attitude. Cardiologist Arthur Muller says that staying active with exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the most important things you can do for your heart health. "Exercise is very important. That elevates good cholesterol."

Registered Dietician Jeanne Struve says that along with exercise, include more fruits and vegetables in your diet and you may need to cut down on fat and other foods that are not good for your health. "If you look at the American Heart Association's website and look at all the risk factors for heart disease, lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke being a part of heart disease."

And then of coarse there's smoking. You need to realize that if you pick up this habit in the first place, you can be setting yourself up for a lifetime of health problems. Smoker Brianna Bredin says, "I started smoking when I was 13. I didn't think I was going to be a smoker long enough to have any side effects from it. It didn't' turn out that way."

Bottom line - a dramatic decrease in deaths related to heart disease would occur if people would begin living a healthier lifestyle.

Most people with a strong family history of heart disease have one or more other risk factors, which is why it's even more important to treat and control any other risk factors that you have.