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Gulf War Syndrome

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pacmanx1

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I started a new thread hoping that more would see this thread.

If the conditions are diagnosed and ratable a veteran can be awarded service connection if they can be linked to service. Examples: Fibromyalgia 5025, Depression 9434, Eczema 7806, and IBS 7319 which could be confused with GERD ((acid reflux) 7346 and both of these conditions falls under the condition of gastrointestinal symptoms).

I was diagnosed by two VA doctors that I had/have Gulf war syndrome. During the gulf war era I was stationed with Special Forces and I took all the pre-deployment medication and shots. I felt/feel that even though I did not deploy my duties caused me to be contaminated by equipment, personnel, pre-deployment medication and shots. VA denied my claims. Since I was actually diagnosed with twelve of the fourteen conditions, I started filing for the specific conditions and I was awarded service connection for most of them. If you are diagnosed with undiagnosed illnesses, they are what you have to file your claim for. If you are diagnosed with specific illnesses, they are what you have to file your claims for. They are:

The following are examples of symptoms of an undiagnosed illness: chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, skin disorders, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, neurological symptoms, neuropsychological symptoms, symptoms involving the respiratory system, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal symptoms, cardiovascular symptoms, abnormal weight loss, and menstrual disorders.

I would suggest that all Gulf War veterans have their doctors to give them exams for these illnesses to determine if they can be diagnosed, if they are diagnosed then file a claim to determine if they are service related.

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You may have to be careful, certain ratings can be reversed if they are given diagnoses

Not sure of your point but any rating could be changed for increase or decrease. All service connected disabilities must have a diagnoses to be awarded compensation. Even the undiagnosed conditions are diagnosed as undiagnosed illnesses.

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Yes, but a undiagnosed illness which has a diagnosis can have a rating revoked. Such as joint pain rating reversed when diagnosed with arthritis.

The point to my post was for veterans to have their doctors give them physical exams and review their medical records both SMRs and current records to determine if they could be diagnosed with any of the Gulf War Illnesses. According to the CFR 38 part 4. If a veteran has these conditions and they can be linked to service, the veteran can be awarded service connection. It is better for the veteran to claim specific diagnosis instead of undiagnosed illnesses. If the veteran is diagnosed with these conditions and their doctor gives his or her medical opinion that these conditions are service related, the veteran would more than likely get a higher rating due to the fact that the conditions are ratable by the specific regulation. Example: undiagnosed joint pain, or muscle pain would probably get rated as 10% but a diagnosed service connected fibromyalgia (5025) can be rated up to 40%. Which are the same thing except fibromyalgia has more conditions that can be rated separately. The key would be if the doctor gives his or her diagnosis and opinion that the condition is specific and related to service.

Hope this helps and make sense

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I'm going to have to some research on this. I think both of you are correct. The confusion seems to lie in the definition of 'diagnoses'.

I don't believe I was 'diagnosed' with undiagnosed chronic fatigue. Rather, I think it was confirmed that I have chronic fatigue and the cause was undiagnosed.

In other words, I'm wondering if it is accurate to call confirmed conditions as diagnosed conditions.

I know this seems like splitting hairs but I also have the opinion that GW vet's be very carefull about diagnoses.

Having a doctor confirm you have a condition isn't the same as a diagnoses, I don't think.

I do know, that the key to SC GWI conditions is it's the CAUSE or etiology of the condition that is relevant.

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di·ag·no·sis (dg-nss)

n. pl. di·ag·no·ses (-sz)

1. Medicine

a. The act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause of a disease or injury through evaluation of patient history, examination, and review of laboratory data.

b. The opinion derived from such an evaluation.

undiagnosed [ˌʌndaɪəgˈnəʊzd]

adj

(of a medical condition, a problem, etc.) not having been identified

And this from http://www.nvlsp.org/Information/ArticleLi...ATIONUPDATE.htm

GULF WAR COMPENSATION UPDATE

January 4, 2002

The method created by Congress in 1994 to compensate Gulf War illnesses has, in practice, resulted in several problems. Congress and the VA recently provided some solutions.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

The VA has found preliminary evidence that veterans who served in the Gulf are nearly twice as likely as their non-deployed counterparts to develop ALS. Because of this finding, the VA will now automatically grant claims from veterans who served in the Gulf August 1, 1990, to July 31, 1991, and have subsequently developed ALS. This rule affects eligible veterans, or their survivors, immediately, even though the study is just preliminary. The ratings will be permanent even if the studies’ results later change.

If a Gulf War veteran ever filed a VA claim for ALS and or an undiagnosed neurological condition, he or she or their survivor should refile their claim.

Participation in Disease Specific Studies

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is currently conducting medical research concerning the association, if any, between veterans who served in the Gulf and certain diseases. It is important that all veterans who may be affected participate in these studies. However, some veterans who are currently being compensated on the basis of an "undiagnosed illness" have declined to participate in the studies due to the fear of losing service-connected compensation and health benefits if they are "diagnosed" with a specific disease.

Public Law 107-103 gives the VA the authority to protect compensation for undiagnosed illnesses when VA determines that such protection is necessary to ensure adequate participation by veterans in VA-sponsored medical research. This is particularly important for research that requires a high level of participation to achieve its objective. The new law gives the VA authority to provide such protection whether the research was conducted before, or after the date of enactment of the new law and requires the VA to list the applicable research projects in the Federal Register.

Clearer Definition of Undiagnosed Diseases

The 1994 statutory scheme was intended to provide compensation to deployed Gulf War veterans who suffer from disabilities that cannot now be diagnosed or defined, and for which other causes cannot be identified. In interpreting this legislation, VA issued a General Counsel Opinion holding that only disabilities which cannot be attributed to "any known clinical diagnosis" could be compensated.

Many Gulf War veterans reported disabilities related to poorly understood multi-symptom disabilities which may be classified as "undiagnosed" by one physician or referred to as "chronic fatigue syndrome" or "chronic multi-symptom" illnesses by another physician. This resulted in disparate treatment of veterans with similar signs and symptoms. In order to address this problem and to insure that the law is interpreted to provide benefits for similarly disabled veterans, Public Law 107-103 expands the definition of undiagnosed illnesses to include, “medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses,” such as, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and irritable bowel syndrome. Any other chronic multi-symptom illness or any other ill-defined illness or combinations of illnesses may be added if the VA deems it appropriate. The law lists 13 specific signs and symptoms of undiagnosed illness the VA is to consider in deciding whether to add other diseases.

The VA will issue a directive shortly directing payment to veterans with the three specific diseases listed above.Expansion of Period of Time Symptoms to Manifest

The January 1, 2002 date regarding initial onset of undiagnosed illnesses was extended to December 31, 2006 by VA regulation and Public Law 107-103 gives the VA the authority to extend this “delimiting” date for another five years.

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Reports

The NAS now has until September 30, 2011 to report on underdiagnosed illnesses.

Problem with Definition of Deployment to a War Zone

The compensation scheme still does not include veterans stationed in Turkey, Israel and the surrounding areas. These veterans took similar medications and were exposed to depleted uranium as were those veterans covered by the 1994 law.

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