Even though heart disease remains the leading cause of death, the good news is that it can be prevented.

Judith Mackall, MD, Cardiologist at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, offers three tips for men and women to help improve their heart health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.

She advises thirty minutes of moderate exercise every day, which can have a big impact on heart health.

If 30 minutes is too much time to dedicate all at once, no problem! Breaking up exercise into ten minute increments, three times a day, has just as great an effect. In fact, within ten weeks, results have shown that an individual’s cholesterol numbers will improve, blood pressure will come down, and weight will decrease.

She urges that we make healthy food choices, adding that we remember the “Five Rule.” Consuming at least five fruits and vegetables every day as part of a balanced diet can, among many things, help manage blood pressure and decrease inflammation in the body, preventing risk of cardiovascular disease.

And lastly she wants us to schedule our “Quit Smoking Day”. If you’ve never been a smoker – great. But if you’re a heavy smoker or even a social smoker, it’s time to call it quits.

Dr. Mackall said that if you smoke, you will knock off seven years of your life. And, if you have cardiovascular disease and you smoke, you’ll die 15 years sooner than you would otherwise.

BDST: 1514 HRS, MAR-17, 2014