Alarming trend in heart attack risk

A new study highlights an alarming trend when it comes to the No. 1 killer.

It seems heart attack victims are now younger than they were in the past.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic looked at nearly 4,000 patients during a span of 20 years.

They were hoping to find, as we learn more about risk factors, people would make healthy changes to their lifestyle to decrease their chances of heart attack.

Instead they found the opposite was true.

Patients from the most recent years were four years younger than those at the start of the study.

They were also more likely to be obese, to smoke, to have high blood pressure and diabetes.

"There is a group of patients who are unable to change their lifestyle and decrease their risk for heart attack, and we have some work ahead of us to make this happen," said Dr. Samir Kapadia.