Breaking down the Dyslipidemia-Stroke Relationship in Southeast Asian American Subgroups: Advancing Toward...

Southeast Asian (SEA) American populations-including Filipino, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Burmese, and Hmong communities-experience disproportionate burdens of dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease in the United States (U.S.) population. Despite these disparities, SEA Americans remain underrepresented in cardiovascular research and epidemiology. This review synthesizes U.S.-based epidemiologic, clinical, and community-level evidence on dyslipidemia and stroke across SEA subgroups, emphasizing how aggregated data obscure subgroup-specific disparities.

Disaggregated data reveal that Filipino and Vietnamese adults-among the most studied SEA subgroups-exhibit high rates of elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and hypertriglyceridemia, aligning with increased ischemic stroke prevalence, higher age-standardized cerebrovascular mortality, and greater years of potential life lost. Hemorrhagic stroke mortality is also comparatively high in these groups. In contrast, data for Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong, and Burmese Americans remain sparse, limiting risk characterization. Emerging evidence highlights that cardiometabolic disorders in SEA populations reflect heterogeneous and multifactorial influences, including genetic variability in statin metabolism, cultural health beliefs, psychosocial stressors, and systemic barriers to preventive care.

Cardiovascular risk in SEA American populations is shaped by the interplay of biological and social determinants of health. Aggregating diverse Asian subgroups into a single racial category masks heterogeneity, widens knowledge gaps, and perpetuates inequities in care. Advancing cardiovascular health equity requires intentional inclusion of underrepresented SEA subgroups in clinical research, systematic data disaggregation, and culturally responsive approaches to lipid management and stroke prevention.