Hypertension among Vietnamese Americans - Research Paper Example

Hypertension among Viet se Americans Viet se Americans are currently faced with the risk of hypertension; this would mean increased vulnerability to being stroke victims. Second in the list of death cause among Vietnamese is cardiovascular disease. Restricted access to health care, lack of know how regarding health, customary health believes and damaged physician –patient communication are significant health linked drawbacks facing the population. Introduction Studies conducted in the years 1978 to 1985 and from 1991 came to a conclusion that a woman of Vietnam origin had the highest rate of hypertension as compared to other women Asian American racial group. Americans of Vietnam descent make up the Asian subgroup in the United States of America with fastest population growth rate. Most of them are foreign born and about 55% have restricted English proficiency. This Asian subgroup is characterized by low employment rates, educational level and low self-categorized health. They also have marked health disparities including but not limited to highest liver-cancer and cervical occurrences1 Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease Past studies have recorded low prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases among citizen of Vietnamese American descent. However, hypertension which is commonly known as high blood pressure (HBP) has been a rising problem among Vietnamese Americans owing to fast varying life-styles and eating habits2.According to a descriptive study of 201 Vietnamese found out that about 44% were hypertensive. Highest contribution came from uncontrolled alcohol use, change in feeding habits, smoking, and lack of exercise. Vietnamese in U.S have changed their earlier eating habits and adapted consumption of soft drinks and fruit juices. Among the Vietnamese teenagers, consumption of pizzas, steak, ice cream, deep fried chicken, sodas and milk have over taken traditional foods. Large numbers of Vietnamese American are now turning to consuming foods with high fat and little fiber content. Adapting eating habits have been influenced by modern times and instead of traditional plant and fish based food diets, majority of people opt for foods with additional animal proteins / fats and processed carbohydrates. Emphases on vegetables in the diet have been watered down due to the increasing acculturation. However, to stress the significance of culture maintenance, it is good to advocate for dietary education. Stressing on consumption of dairy food for healthy and strong bones is recommended. Cultural food such as soy milk, dry fish and broccoli are a rich source of calcium 3. A contributing factor to the problem is inadequate health knowledge among Vietnamese Americans just like other present immigrant groups. As a result of this, their capability to acquire, process and comprehend information associated to their disease is limited. The high illiteracy levels among the Vietnamese Americans which in return would mean lack of understanding regarding the risk factors linked to heart disease. A good number of Vietnamese believe that death occurring as a result of heart disease is instead caused by bad fortune that brought by “bad wind”. Existence of two contrasting but complementary believes in two kinds of medicine, with current medicine considered curative, stronger and faster and on the other hand folk medicine considered preventive, weaker and slower in nature. Modern medicines are also considered too “hot” matched up to herbal or folk medicines. It is worth noting that Vietnamese relies on both types of medicine, with none of the group specified to treat hypertension or cardiovascular4 . Program such as those directed towards educating the Vietnamese American population and health professionals would therefore represent a great chance to enhance the general understanding and avoidance. This would go along way in imparting relevant knowledge on what is categorize as for instance, a positive symptom of heart attack or stroke and may be the way out in seeking help when any of the positive symptoms are detected in good time. Unlike other Americans, Vietnamese Americans are less expected to be conscious of hypertension or opt for treatment. A study done on Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants found out that about 94% had no clue of what hypertension is and about 85% did were not aware of heart disease preventive measures. Majority of patient of Vietnamese descent are conscious of the connection between obesity and hypertension but lack the knowledge that high blood pressure could lead to heart attack, stroke and kidney and eye disorders. These amongst other reasons call for enlighten of Vietnamese American patients on the relationship between high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. This is guide by the fact that their foods have a high proportion of sodium-incorporated sauces5. Table: 1 Age-Adjusted Prevalence of Hypertension per 100,000(36) AAPI Women All Women AAPI Men All Men Hypertension 8.4 11.0 9.7 10.3 Source: Harmony in health care: A Resource Guide for Culturally Appropriate Care Of Vietnamese Americans. Hypertension danger and exercise Guided by a study conducted in Houston Texas, Vietnamese Americans who spoke Vietnamese was more probable to eat fruits and vegetables, smoke more and not indulge in exercise than those who spoke English. Exercise is considered by Vietnamese Americans as an image linked issue rather than health; people will therefore not exercise when healthy. To them exercise is perceived more as a means of restoring good health rather than preventing disease. Diagnosis of a Vietnamese American with heart disease calls for several actions to control the problem6. The actions embraced by the Vietnamese include, but not limited to stress management, exercise, eating well and regularly, boxing, staying happy and calm and anger management. Hypertension: Cholesterol and blood cholesterol testing Lack of know how on what causes an individual be vulnerable to developing high blood cholesterol among Vietnamese and the thought that high fat content diet is the leading cause is are some of the reasons for increasing incidences of hypertension cases. On gender basis, women have a higher probability of having their cholesterol checked and be made aware of their level compared to their male counterparts. It has been noted that most Vietnamese Americans are not aware of the importance of normal check-ups and in particular screening tests7. This has been contributed by the believe people who go for regular check ups have numerous problems and therefore they will only opt for medical check-up when ill. The national cholesterol education program expert panel recommends regular cholesterol check-up for all persons aged 20 years and above at least once in every five years. The study showed no significant difference between cholesterol amounts in US born and non-born Asians. Barriers to health care in Vietnamese American population Lack of insurance or medical coverage among Vietnamese Americans has contributed to disparities in gaining access prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and eventual outcome and death rates. Even to those who visit doctors, preventive care services such as cholesterol, blood pressure tests and pap smears are never done on them. The outstanding reasons for lack of health care access are the absence of linguistically and ethnically experienced health services. Some studies that have been conducted have demonstrated the presence of cultural, racial and linguistic as barriers contributing to the disparities experienced by the Vietnamese American population8. Restricted English expertise and little\ health literacy barriers: because of the fact that most Vietnamese Americans have limited English speaking expertise hampers their access to health information and services. This makes it difficult to communicate effectively with health care professional and emergency personnel let alone comprehending and using medications offered by international organizations such as Medicaid and Medicare. Cultural barrier: belief related to health and misconceptions of diseases and illnesses may block early warning symptoms and holdup access to medical intervention. For instance, shyness and embarrassment among women during physical examination or going for medical check-ups have resulted in delay in gaining access to health care services. Cultural beliefs such as those concerning being touched by strangers and male physicians; fear of huge medical facilities (such as those used in diagnosis of mammography) and belief that cancer has no cure have also contributed immensely toward delays in gaining access to health care and disease management. Other belief on buying medication without getting any assistance from health professionals; this might result into high chances of developing complications9 Conclusion Studies conducted clearly show that hypertension prevalence among the Vietnamese Americans is on the rise because of adoption of western life styles ranging from feeding habits to. Due to this reason and many others, effort should be directed towards developing and carrying out targeted drive to bring down the risk of hypertension occurrence and enhance access to health care among Vietnamese American population. This and much more related approaches would ease health management and disease avoidance relating to chronic illnesses like hypertension and heart attack thus resulting into better general health care. References Amery, A. K. (1982). Hypertensive cardiovascular disease: pathophysiology and treatment. The Hague: M. Nijhoff ;. Duong Diep A., Bohannon Alice S., and Ross Candice M. (2001). A Descriptive Study of Hypertension in Vietnamese Americans. Journal of Community Health Nursing, Vol 18(1)1-11. MacGregor, G., & Kaplan, N. M. (2006). Hypertension (3rd ed.). Abingdon, UK: Health Press. Moon S. Chen, Jr (1993). Cardiovascular Health among Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders: An Examination of Health Status and Intervention Approaches. American Journal of Health Promotion: January/February 1993, Vol. 7, (3), 199-207. Nguyen Tung T. et al,. (2009). Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Knowledge of Symptoms among Vietnamese Americans. Journal of General Internal Medicine, Vol.24 (2), 238-243. Pham Trang M., Rosenthal Michael P., and Diamond James J., (1999). Hypertension, Cardiovascular Disease, and Health Care Dilemmas in the Philadelphia Vietnamese Community Vol.31 (9), 647-650. Read More