Heart disease, the No.1 killer of Americans, can be thwarted by a simple walking regimen, say researchers at New York's Binghamton University, who found that walking can improve risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

"We know walking is an excellent form of exercise, but research has been mixed on how successful a walking program can be in changing biological markers such as cholesterol, weight, and blood pressure," said professor and associate dean Pamela Stewart Fahs.

Fahs and doctoral student Elisabeth Marigliano studied a group of 70 women. Participants were given a programmable pedometer to wear for waking hours over a 10-week period and asked to walk briskly for at least 150 minutes per week.

Two days later, the women returned to record pre-test data. Next, a web-based risk assessment tool was used to determine their risk of a heart attack within the next 10 years.

After five weeks, researchers downloaded the pedometer data and reviewed the activity figures with the participants. Participants were also challenged to increase their aerobic activity by at least 10 percent for the remainder of the study.

After the program was completed, participants' weight, BMI, blood pressure, and cholesterol were measured. They were also asked to complete a survey about their physical activity, food choices, personal characteristics, and behaviors from the 10-week period.

The results confirmed the researchers' initial hypothesis that walking would improve cardiovascular risk factors in the short term.

The study was published in Creative Nursing.

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine also found that lifestyle factors, including exercise, can lower the risk of heart disease, even overcoming a genetic predisposition to the condition.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke, account for one out of every three deaths in the U.S.