But many doctors in our area are seeing patients much younger than that.

Geri Dino never thought she'd suffer a heart attack.

"Heart disease was something I never thought I would experience in my life," Dine said, "I figured cancer, but certainly not heart disease."

Which is why on October 24, a strange pain caught her by surprise.

"It just came up," she explained, "I had no other symptoms, no chest pain, no shortness of breath, no arm pain - in fact at first I thought I swallowed too hard."

Dino eats only a Mediterranean diet; lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy choices like using olive oil and minimal salt.

She walks a half an hour each way every day to work and doesn't smoke.

"Even when I was laying there," she said, "I was like, 'could this be a heart attack? How could it be a heart attack?"

But it turns out, at the age of 52...

"It was a heart attack. I had arterial plague which had ruptured and it was the rupture that caused the blockage and created the heart attack."

Dino's experience is part of a growing trend - younger seemingly healthy people suffering heart attacks.

At W.V.U Hospitals doctors say they've treated heart attack patients as young as 22.

Dr. Robert Beto is the Chief of Cardiology and Director of Cardiac Institute at WVU Hospitals.

He believes our overcharged lifestyles play a role.

"In this highly technologized world that we work in you know we're working longer, we're sleeping less and our lifestyles are less healthy," Dr.Beto explained.

But here in West Virginia Beto says family history is a key factor.

"Heart disease is an epidemic in West Virginia," he said. "We rank 48 out of 50 states in a of of the bad things associated with heart disease and heart attacks. So that means it's genetic here - it's inherited within our state."

Although you can't change your genes, Dr.Beto says you can modify your risk factors.

That means controlling your blood sugar, blood pressure and watching your cholesterol.

Having a healthy diet, exercise, stress and sleep routine.

"Our advice is to maintain a healthy lifestyle even if you have good genetics," Beto said. "What I've seen over the years is nobody is 100 percent immune."

Which is why Dino believes research and education are so important.

"Become familiar with the symptoms," she urges, "and if there's any doubt, if you are even questioning it a little, call 911, get to the hospital. Don't take any chances."

Beto agrees that education is key, even at an early age.

He says getting your cholesterol levels tested is the most important thing you can do.

He recommends kids as young as 11 and 12 get screened for high cholesterol.