Life

The Asian fetish is a phenomenon that many Asian girls know well – non-Asian men who are obsessed with dating Asian girls. In the afterword to the 1988 play M. Butterfly, the writer, David Henry Hwang, using the term “yellow fever,” a pun on the disease of the same name, discusses white men with a “fetish” for Asian women. Hwang …

By Jenny Chen In his earlier years, David Tian always felt like the odd one out. As he describes in his blog, DoctorAsianRake.com, Tian had gone through a couple of girlfriends, but they all eventually soured. He even went through a marriage – and a divorce. But years later, he is now the head of the successful Aura Dating Academy, …

By Jenny Chen It comes with the territory. As an Asian American female, I have constantly been reminded about my eyes. They’re too small, they’re too slanty, my eyelashes are nonexistent. In my Midwestern elementary school, classmates would ask me, “How can you see through those eyes?” I imagined my eyes to be akin to some kind of Voldermort-like slits. …

By Josephine Liang Experts say it’s never too late to reap the benefits of exercise. A recent research study titled “Impact of an Asian Community Bone Health Initiative: A Community-Based Exercise Program in New York City,” presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, follows an exercise program offered in New York City. The program, offered by Hospital for …

By Whitney Pipkin When the Chicago-based Asian Health Coalition began work on health initiatives in Chinatown neighborhoods, Alia Ryan said the team tried to avoid using the term “obesity” even as they tried to address it as a local problem. She said Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the region didn’t relate to the word, which they see as …

By Alice Langholt, Reiki Master Teacher If you’re like most people, you probably get a cold, flu, or respiratory infection during the winter. These ailments are most common during the change of seasons, and during the long-seeming stretch of winter. I used to get sick too. It was just one of those things that came with the long winters in …

By Vania Cao Asian Americans are a diverse population, composed of people from every part of the socio-economic spectrum and scattered across different locales, and often face challenges in receiving appropriate attention from U.S. government agencies in regards to proper health care. In particular, certain ethnic groups have needs and concerns which can become obscured by those of larger, more …

By Violet Li In the west, immunology has been studied for 2500 years. Due to the complexity, it is hard to pinpoint how the immune system works and how they can be improved. According to Harvard Medical School, there is still much that researchers don’t know about the intricacies and interconnectedness of the immune response. However, in recent research, scientists …

This article was first published by New America Media on November 11, 2013 SAN FRANCISCO – Eunice Kim has spent the past three years working as medical interpreter in San Francisco, where she helps Korean patients communicate with their doctors. More than once she’s found herself involved in discussions around key medical decisions for her clients. And no discussion is …

By Jenny Chen November was diabetes awareness month and recent study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) shows that Asian Americans may be more at risk for diabetes than is popularly believed. According to the Asian American Diabetes Initiative at the Joslin Diabetes Center, despite having a lower body weight, Asian Americans are more likely than Caucasians to have …

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. This quintessentially “American” holiday harkening back to the days when colonists would share a feast with the Native Americans has morphed in Asian American households across the country. We asked some of our regular contributors to share some of their unique Thanksgiving memories as Asian Americans. If you have any Thanksgiving memories you would like …

By Vania Cao The socioeconomic characteristics and health status of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) can vary greatly by ethnic or racial subgroups. AAPIs represent over 30 countries and communicate with over a hundred different dialects or languages, yet due to the small size of the AAPI demographic as a percentage of the entire US population, AAPIs have historically …

By Jane Chun We Asian Americans will stop at nothing to look beautiful. From double lid tapes and circle lenses we can be pretty innovative when it comes to fashion. Here are six more crazy beauty accessories you’ve never heard of – or maybe you already rock them… 1. Bang Extensions – For those who want fake hair without buying …

By Jane Chun At many of the largest companies today, Google, Facebook, Zappos, a suit and tie is so yesterday. But they also make people wonder – what is the best outfit to wear to an interview? How much do first impressions matter? The study, The Effect of Appearance on First Impressions by Karen Pine, the University of Hertfordshire, and …

By Niharika Chibber Joe Several years ago, my intern from Mongolia worriedly inquired, “Why are poor people in America so fat?” The question threw me – was it even politically correct to use the words “poor” or “fat” anymore? Growing up in India, I did not recall seeing “poor” people who were “fat.” Quite to the contrary, in fact. In …

By Seth Karafin Self-esteem is one of the most misunderstood things in personal mental health. Often, it is used to describe others in a negative way. As in, “She has low self-esteem.” Or “Only people with low self-esteem would do that.” There are three common misconceptions about self-esteem, and all of them can be very damaging. One is that self-esteem …

By Jasmine Ma, L. Ac. WHAT Don’t eat the same things every day. The more varieties of food the better, because they all provide different types of nutrients – vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, etc. Eat a balanced diet with as many vegetables as possible.  Eat 2-3 times as many vegetables as fruit, and make sure to eat fresh …

By Devika Koppikar Sam Mukherjee, a retired scientist, found a mole on his skin three days after a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2006. Though painful, he removed this mole, caused by a tick bite infected with Borrelia Burgdorferi. He had contracted Lyme disease, his doctor confirmed, and his skin displayed a round rash typical to the disease. …

By Amanda L. Andrei Bread. Cake. Noodles. French fries. Tempura. Hoisin sauce. No, these aren’t just banned items on a low-carb diet. These are foods and condiments that often contain gluten, a substance commonly found in wheat and related grains which causes baked goods to be chewy, dough to rise, and unfortunately, serious allergic reactions to some people. An allergy …

By Jenny Chen The year was 2737 BC and the Chinese Emperor Shenong was drinking his bowl of boiled water. Shenong, who developed Chinese traditional medicine and agricultural traditions in China, was so health conscious that he decreed to all his subjects must boil their water before drinking it. On that one particular day, as Shenong bent down to take …

by: Min Kang, D.C. Osteoarthritis is one of the most common forms of arthritis and is a chronic condition characterized by the breakdown of the joint. While osteoarthritis can damage any joint in your body, the disorder most commonly affects the joints in your neck, lower back, shoulders, knees, hips, and hands. Why does the joint start to break down? …

By Mary Tablante Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans. The most common types of cancer for Asian Americans are liver cancer, stomach cancer and cervical cancer. Breast cancer has also been increasing among Asian Americans. The following is a round up of the most common types of cancer among Asian Americans. LIVER CANCER Approximately 1 in …

  The  stereotype that casts Asian Americans as a “model minority group” fails to account for the fact that, like other ethnic and minority groups in the United States, AAPIs suffer disproportionately from chronic diseases such as hepatitis B, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. AAPIs are also the least likely among all racial groups to receive routine mammograms and pap …

LANDOVER, Md.—An estimated 1.5 percent of Asian Americans live with epilepsy today and one in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime. More people live with epilepsy than with autism spectrum disorders, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy–combined.     Despite the fact that millions of Americans, including many Asian Americans, have this chronic medical condition, …