Obesity is a condition that affects millions of people across the United States. In short, obesity is defined as having excess body fat. Technically speaking, the threshold for what constitutes “obesity” is having a Body Mass Index of 40 or greater.
People who suffer from obesity live restricted lives in many ways. For example, those with obesity may have difficulty with the following tasks:
– Manipulation of small objects;
Respiratory diseases are often associated with a difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, inability to exercise or maintain physical stress, and other problems with the lungs. If you have one of the following respiratory diseases or disorders, you know how difficult it can be on a day-to-day basis:
– Bronchitis
– Asthma
For people who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, getting and holding a steady job can be difficult, if not impossible. Often, the symptoms of cardiovascular diseases and disorders keep people stuck at home in pain. It is very common for people who suffer from circulatory diseases to have very little tolerance for exercise ,including movement of any kind.
The federal government understands how difficult fighting a cardiovascular disease can be, and make Social Security Disability benefits to those applicant who meet the criteria set forth in their guidelines.
What Kinds of Cardiovascular Diseases Are Covered by Social Security?
The federal government provides disability payments to some citizens if they are disabled to the point where they cannot perform the necessary functions of a job. There is a very detailed and specific set of criteria the Social Security Administration uses to assess a candidate’s application.
The primary way to qualify is to do so under one of fourteen “listings.” These listings are essentially different types or categories of diseases and disorders. The Social Security Administration has developed the following categories, or listings:
– Musculoskeletal disorders
Among all the disabilities out there, the Social Security Administration gets more applications based on back problems than any other disability listing. This is, in part, because of the prevalence of back problems among the US population. Obtaining disability benefits for back problems is not necessarily easy; the Social Security administration will not usually grant disability benefits to an applicant who is suffering from the normal back pains associated with getting older. However, the Administration may determine that benefits are appropriate for certain cases of:
– Spinal stenosis: Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the open spaces within your spine, which can put pressure on your spinal cord and the nerves that travel through the spine. Spinal stenosis occurs most often in the neck and lower back.
– Nerve root compression: Nerve root dysfunction, which is usually secondary to chronic pressure or invasion of the root, causes a radicular syndrome of pain and segmental neurologic deficit.
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that is characterized primarily by seizures. Approximately 50 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with epilepsy, making it a more common disease than most people think.
While some people with epilepsy are able to control their disease and the resulting seizures with medication, not everyone is so fortunate. If you have epilepsy that interferes with your daily life, then you may be able to qualify for Social Security Disability for epilepsy.
There are two ways to qualify for disability benefits with an Epilepsy diagnosis. First, you may qualify under the Epilepsy listing that the Social Security Administration has created for both convulsive and non-convulsive Epilepsy. However, if you do not meet the criteria under the Epilepsy listing, you may be able to qualify under the medical-vocational allowance.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that usually arises after an especially traumatic event, such as abuse, rape, first-hand combat, a natural disaster, the sudden death of a loved one, or even the quick onset of a medical condition, such as a heart attack. PTSD diagnoses have increased over the past several years as medical professionals become more aware of the triggering events and the related symptoms.
The symptoms of PTSD can be severe and debilitating, and may include:
– Flashbacks
Down syndrome is a chromosomal based disorder that occurs during gestation. About 1 in 830 newborns have this disorder. Humans have 46 chromosomes in each cell that are divided into 23 pairs. A change in the chromosome 21 pair (from which each parent contributes) has been found to be the cause of many types of cancers and of Down syndrome. Down syndrome usually occurs when each cell has three copies of chromosome 21 rather than the normal two copies (a condition that is referred to as trisomy).
The impairments resulting from Down syndrome are both mental and physical. On the mental side, the chromosomal defect causes cognitive delays that result in a reduced intellectual functioning. The reduced functioning is mostly mild to moderate. On the physical side, the defect produces weak muscle tone in infancy and a characteristic facial appearance. According to the National Institutes of Health, about half of all affected children are born with a heart defect. Unfortunately, the defect does not stop there.
The cognitive delays may cause speech and language issues along with behavioral issues. As a person with the syndrome ages, his/her ability to think may decrease sooner than people who do not have this syndrome. For people who have Down syndrome, this decline in thinking ability could begin as early as age 50. A person with Down syndrome is also at greater risk to be afflicted with Alzheimer disease and this affliction may occur earlier in age as compared to those who do not have Down syndrome.
The government understands that symptoms of severe digestive disorders can render an individual unable to work. For this reason, the Social Security Administration considers several digestive diseases as “qualifying disorders.” Those include:
– Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
– Chronic liver disease
Obesity is medically defined as having excess fatty tissue somewhere on the body. The unofficial calculation is that anyone with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30 is considered obese. Those with a BMI over 40 are considered “morbidly obese.”
BMI is a rather simple calculation and only considers an individual’s height and weight. Therefore, it is not a perfect proxy for obesity. For example, an bodybuilder might have a BMI over 30 because of their muscle density (muscle weighs more than fat). But as a general rule for the rest of us, a BMI over 30 should raise at least some level concern.
Until 1999 obese applicants could qualify for Social Security Disability based solely on the fact that they were obese. However, that has changed, and there are now additional requirements that obese applicants must meet in order to qualify for social security disability payments.
Indiana Social Security Disability Attorney Blog