The Hmong are people who originally come from mountainous regions in places like Laos, China, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Many of them helped the United States during the Vietnam War, which led to them being chased out of Southeast Asia around the late 1970s.
A lot of them found their way to America as refugees. According to the 2021 census data, there are around 368,609 Hmong living in the U.S.
The Troubling Health Trend
Recent research has thrown light on a concerning health issue among the Hmong people.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, Hmong Americans who have a stroke are much younger than white Americans who have a stroke.
They also tend to have a type of stroke that causes bleeding in the brain.
The researchers studied medical records of 128 Hmong stroke patients and 3,084 white stroke patients at a hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 2010 to 2019.
They discovered that Hmong Americans had a stroke at a younger age – around 60, compared to 71 for white people.
Also, they were more likely to have a stroke that causes brain bleeding. This type of stroke happened to 31% of Hmong patients compared to 15% of white patients.
Other Health Concerns
Hmong stroke patients also had higher blood sugar levels and worse cholesterol than white patients.
They even got to the hospital later after symptoms started and were less likely to use an ambulance. After their stroke, they were also less likely to be sent to rehabilitation facilities.
The researchers also noted that Hmong people don’t have a word for “stroke” in their language, indicating a gap in health knowledge and understanding.
Overcoming the Challenge
The lead author of the study, Dr. Haitham Hussein, noted that the health system needs to improve its outreach efforts to the Hmong community. Understanding their unique lifestyle and cultural background is important for this.
One way the researchers have tried to address this is by creating educational material about strokes that uses the Hmong language or is adapted to their culture.
This includes videos featuring survivors of strokes speaking Hmong.
Despite the limitations of the study, such as the small number of Hmong patients studied and the lack of follow-up data, Hussein believes these findings can help improve health outreach.
He emphasizes the importance of starting health education early, especially for younger generations, so that they can prevent these health issues from happening later in life.
Understanding and addressing the health struggles of diverse communities is crucial for ensuring everyone gets the care they need.
This study serves as an important step towards identifying and addressing the unique health disparities experienced by the Hmong community in the U.S.
If you care about stroke, please read studies about how to eat to prevent stroke, and scientists find a breakfast linked to better blood vessel health.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and wild blueberries can benefit your heart and brain.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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