Top Story: What do we know about heart health in Minnesota’s Hmong communities?

According to a statewide survey, Hmong speaking Minnesotans have high rates of optimal vascular care, but low rates of optimal diabetes care. The survey looks at screening rates and patient care by race, ethnicity, preferred language and country of origin. In the past two years, patients who prefer to speak Hmong have had higher rates of optimal vascular care than the statewide rate, but lower rates of optimal diabetes care.

Dr. Haitham Hussein, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and his research team studied stroke patterns among the Hmong community and found small vessel disease is the most common type of stroke mechanism in this population. Small vessel disease is primarily caused by uncontrolled long standing high blood pressure. “High blood pressure and all these risk factors increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, but when we hone in on the types of strokes that Hmong patients suffer, they are directly related to the risk factors, especially high blood pressure and diabetes,” Dr. Hussein told MinnPost.

Dr. Hussein also mentioned that studies show people who are war refugees are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease even compared to non-refugee migrants, which is true within Minnesota’s Somali and Hmong communities.

You can read the full article here.