How Is Sleep Apnea Service Connected

Slumber apnea is a common status that affects most 22 1000000 people nationwide. If you are among the quondam military service members living with sleep apnea, you may exist eligible for veterans' disability compensation through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Nosotros're seeing veterans coming dorsum from Republic of iraq, Afghanistan, and the southwest asia theater of war with severe slumber issues, which can oftentimes be linked to PTSD.

This guide volition outline the nuts of sleep apnea, how the VA disability rating works for this status, and how qualifying veterans tin can prove direct service connexion besides as sleep apnea as a secondary service continued condition to PTSD.

How Sleep Apnea VA Ratings Are Decided

VA rates sleep apnea for veterans' inability under 38 CFR § 4.97, Diagnostic Code 6847. With the highest possible rating being 100% and the lowest being 0%. Though, it'south worth noting in February 2022, VA proposed changes that could go far more difficult to get slumber apnea properly rated for service continued compensation.

The VA assigns the following ratings for veterans based on the severity of their slumber apnea:

100 percent: chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retentiveness, the need for a tracheostomy or the enlargement or failure of the right side of the heart due to lung affliction. This is the most severe and the highest rating bachelor.
50 pct: the veteran requires the utilize of a animate device, such as a CPAP car.
30 per centum: the veteran is experiencing hypersomnolence, or excessive daytime sleepiness, that does not better with sufficient sleep or fifty-fifty with naps during the day.
0 percentage: the veteran's condition does not produce any symptoms simply has a documented sleep disorder. This rating is a not-compensable rating, still, a veteran may exist entitled to other benefits, such as VA health care.
Common issues associated with Sleep Apnea include increased risk of stroke, high blood pressure, memory bug, and more.

VA Proposes Changes to Sleep Apnea Ratings

Under the current rating schedule, VA bug ratings at 0, 30, l, 100 percent for sleep apnea fifty-fifty if treatments are somewhat effective in dealing with the condition.

However, in February 2022, VA proposed changes that would reclassify sleep apnea ratings to 0 percent, x percent, 30 percent, or 50 percentage, with 100 per centum for sleep apnea seeming fifty-fifty harder to qualify for.

Asymptomatic sleep apnea would not be compensated under the tentative regulation. If handling for sleep apnea provides only express alleviation, you volition just receive ten percentage of your maximum bounty, even if a CPAP machine is required.

A fifty% rating would exist given if treatment was ineffective or you were unable to use therapies due to another condition. Finally, a 100% rating is available when slumber apnea is so astringent that it involves organ damage.

And so if this proposed alter for sleep apnea ratings goes through, it's possible that veterans may starting time getting lowballed ratings. For now, these ratings are merely a proposal and so stay tuned to this folio while nosotros update.

What Are Sleep Apnea Complications?

Sleep Apnea is a potentially serious slumber disorder in which a person's breathing is repeatedly interrupted, or ceases, during the course of a dark'due south slumber. These sleep disturbances can occur from tens to hundreds of times per night.

Typically, slumber apnea symptoms are at their worst during REM Sleep due to the body's naturally-occurring reduced musculus tone in the body'south airway. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is also sometimes known as deep sleep. The causes of these disturbances may vary depending on which form of the status you accept: obstructive, central, or a mixed form of both.

This sleep-disordered animate leads to poor sleep quality and is a risk factor for the poor quality of life.

Obstructive slumber apnea (OSA) is ane of the more mutual types of slumber apnea, which occurs when the upper airway repeatedly becomes blocked throughout the night. This blockage is caused when the back pharynx muscles relax, impairing the airflow.

Central sleep apnea occurs when the encephalon either does not ship signals to the muscles that control breathing or those signals are interrupted. The VA refers to mixed sleep apnea as a combination of the obstructive and central forms of the condition.

Common Sleep Apnea and Sleep Problems Symptoms in Veterans

Some of the most common symptoms of slumber apnea include:

Episodes in which y'all cease breathing during sleep — which another person would notice and report
Gasping for air while sleeping
Loud snoring
Waking up with a dry out mouth
Morn headaches
Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
Difficulty paying attention while awake
Irritability

Veterans who are experiencing the above symptoms should consider seeking a diagnosis and pursuing sleep apnea inability benefits. This generally requires a sleep study. If left untreated, slumber apnea can lead to conditions like:

Loftier blood pressure (hypertension)
Stroke
Heart failure, irregular heartbeats, and heart attacks
Diabetes
Depression
Worsening of ADHD
Headaches

VA CPAP Machines for Sleep Apnea Treatment

Since sleep apnea can correlate with conditions like heart disease and obesity, it's important to seek treatment options. Physicians will treat slumber apnea depending on the blazon and severity of the condition. This tin range from CPAP therapy, lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, and others.

While some individuals with animate disorders may testify improvement from lifestyle changes, breathing assistance devices such as CPAP machines (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), BiPap machines, etc. are still among the near common treatments. These machines create airway pressure level to aid the private breathe throughout the night.

Note: Millions of Philips CPAP Machines accept been recalled due to toxic chemical seeping into mask and unknowingly being inhaled by sleep apnea patients. Cheque out our Philips CPAP Remember page here!

Establishing Service Connectedness For Sleep Apnea

Eligibility for veterans benefits depends on proving service connexion. In social club to establish direct service connection for sleep apnea, a claimant must testify that they take a current, diagnosis of sleep apnea, an in-service outcome or illness/injury, and a medical nexus or link that shows the veteran's slumber apnea is related to their in-service event, injury/illness.

A veteran can too establish service connection for sleep apnea on a secondary ground. This means that a veteran has an already service-connected disability that acquired the veteran to have sleep apnea. In this case, there must be a medical nexus to link the sleep apnea to their already service-continued disability.

Some conditions that can be secondary to sleep apnea may include only are not limited to heart conditions, mental health conditions, and diabetes. If you accept a service-connected status that y'all believe is causing your slumber apnea, it may be a skilful idea to start to talk to your doctors about it.

C&P Test for Sleep Apnea and Sleep Studies

The VA volition usually society a sleep report to be performed in order to confirm a electric current diagnosis of sleep apnea. Every bit a role of the VA's duty to assistance veterans in obtaining show to assistance testify their claim, the VA has a duty to assist veterans in scheduling the test for a sleep study and helping them realize the VA disability claim that they are entitled to.

This study will serve every bit medical evidence for the veteran's case and can assist to bear witness the medical status or medical conditions that go into a total rating.

How do I show VA disability for sleep apnea?

Medical evidence and documented medical records from a VA C&P examination will be necessary for the process of filing your claim and could fifty-fifty reveal other secondary weather. A C&P examination and a sleep apnea diagnosis are crucial to qualifying for the upper tiers of bounty.

Believe it or non, buddy statements tin exist helpful in proving sleep apnea claims if you can find vets who you served with and heard you snoring, or tin can talk about the issues that led to the slumber apnea. Loved ones similar family or close friends could also exist a good help in sharing how your sleep has changed.

How difficult is it to go VA inability for sleep apnea?

For veterans who have already been diagnosed with sleep apnea without a sleep study past the VA, the veteran may accept to undergo a slumber study done by the VA in order to confirm the diagnosis for do good purposes. The medical examination may seem like extra hard work just could qualify that veteran for additional monthly compensation.

Linked Sleep Apnea and PTSD Symptoms

Research has shown that combat veterans with mail service-traumatic stress disorder, also known every bit PTSD, may be at higher adventure for sleep apnea than the general population. There are risk factors that overlap in both disorders affecting slumber apnea and symptoms of PTSD, oft aggravating the conditions.

Although all of these symptoms contribute to the interaction betwixt slumber apnea and PTSD, the master culprits seem to exist sleep deprivation and chronic stress. Studies have shown that state of war veterans exhibiting these symptoms tend to take increased frequency and length of apneic events that can be proven by a medical professional person.

Check out our post on sleep apnea secondary connection with PTSD hither!

Why would a VA claim be denied Slumber Apnea?

VA may deny a sleep apnea claim based on different aspects, whether in that location'southward not enough medical bear witness of sleep apnea or possibly no logical connexion betwixt your military service and your current sleep apnea. If your obstructive slumber apnea VA claim, or other sleep apnea claim, was originally denied, you may be able to appeal the rating and receive VA disability bounty.

Contact our team for a consultation and VA-related legal communication by pressing the button below!