ETHNOMEDICAL PATHOGENESIS AND HMONG IMMIGRANTS SUDDEN NOCTURNAL DEATHS

Scores of seemingly healthy Hmong immigrants have died mysteriously an d without warning from what has come to be known as Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS). To date medical research has provide d no adequate explanation for these sudden deaths. This study is an in vestigation into the role of powerful traditional beliefs in illness c ausation. In Stockton, California, 118 Hmong men and women were interv iewed regarding their awareness of and personal experience with a trad itional nocturnal spirit encounter. An analysis of this data reveals t hat the supranormal encounter acts as a trigger for Hmong SUNDS.