SSD Disability: March 2008

Social Security Disability Tips

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Medical Decisions and Determinations for social security
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Genetic Susceptibility to shyness - the shyness Gene

Recently, researchers conducted three separate studies involving children ages (21 months – 6 years), college students, and young adults in an effort to determine possible links between genes and shyness. For the purpose of these studies, researchers defined introversion or shyness as being less sociable and disliking large group situations.

The first study involved children from over one hundred families. The children stayed with their mothers while a female researcher gave them tasks that they were not familiar with for about ninety minutes. These sessions were video recorded; researchers isolated the children who were withdrawn, shy, or hesitant during the sessions, then analyzed blood samples taken from the children. The results of the gene test showed these children had variations in their RGS2 gene.

The second study involved over seven hundred college students who were given personality surveys and blood tests, and, once again, variations in the RGS2 gene were prevalent among more introverted students.

The third study involved brain scans that were completed on fifty-five young adults, who were shown pictures of happy, angry, or fearful faces. Individuals with RGS2 gene variations showed an increase in brain activity within areas of the brain that are responsible for fear and anxiety.

Researchers were quick to point out that the RGS2 gene does not make individuals shy or introverted and that this study was not done as a diagnosing tool for anxiety disorder. The mere fact that an individual is shy or introverted does not mean that they suffer from anxiety. However, introversion and shyness are risk factors for anxiety related disorders particularly social anxiety disorder.

If future research provides scientists with more connections between anxiety disorders and RGS2 gene variations, gene therapy may be a viable treatment for anxiety related disorders.

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Disability Questions
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why does social security send you to a medical examination?
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Social Security Disability Articles page updated

It's been a while since I've updated this particular page of articles. However, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to add some of my more recent posts on this blog to that page, for those who may find the main site but not actually come across the blog itself.

In addition to adding selected blog postings to this article page (linked at the end of this post), I've decided to change the appearance of the blog somewhat as well. Blogger is great in the sense that it is easy to set up, easy to publish within, and relatively easy to manage. However, most of the standard templates that are available are not so easy on the eyes. In fact, the one I was using initially looked like a splash of orange sherbert in a snowstorm. So, I've altered this template a bit, not much but just enough to avoid snowblindness. It's still pretty basic, but I think its a bit easier on the eyes.

Social Security Disability Articles page updated

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Disability Determination for Social Security Disability Benefits

The following page discusses the disability determination process used by the social security administration, which includes the initial claim filing (the application), the first level of appeal (reconsideration) and the second level of appeal (the hearing that is held by a federal judge).

The page discusses the fact that the disability process is not easy, takes far too long to get through, and also the fact that the help and support of one's treating doctor can be very important from the standpoint of winning a claim.

Lastly, the page discusses the benefits of an RFC, a residual functional capacity form, which is used by both physicians and the social security administration to indicate the prognosis, employability, and benefit eligibility of an individual filing for disability.

The Social Security Disability Determination Process

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Social Security Disability Secrets

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Social Security disability benefits and working
Social security disability - what questions will they ask?
What should I take when I file for disability
What happens if I miss my social security disability appointment
Can I apply for disability at any social security office?
Social Security disability quality control
Social security disability doctor appointment - what if you don't go?

Social Security Disability Forms and letters

The following page discusses letters and forms that may be sent by the social security administration to an applicant in the course of processing a claim for either SSD or SSI disability benefits. The page points out several tips to follow and mistakes to avoid, such as ignoring correspondence from SSA (this can be hazardous to a claim) and the need for returning paperwork (usually to a disability examiner who has been assigned to process a case) promptly.

One thing, however, that should be pointed out is the fact that claimants who are represented by disability attorneys have the benefit of their attorney receiving copies of everything that SSA mails to them. This serves as a failsafe, meaning that, even if a claimant does not receive a notice that requires a response by a certain date, the disability attorney probably will receive a copy. This can help to ensure that important deadlines do not get missed.

But, there are cases in which the social security administration does not send notices either to a claimant or to their designated represenatative. For this reason, a claimant should periodically check the status of their claim by calling the social security office, disability determination services, or the hearing office (whichever is more appropriate, depending on the level their claim is at). Of course, a claimant who is represented should probably have their disability attorney perform this action for them.

The following page provides additional information regarding this topic:

Social Security Disability - letters and forms

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Status of my disability case
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How often should I check on my social security disability case?

Social Security Disability Application Interview

Individuals who file for disability become immediately aware of the fact that not only will they have to submit forms and information to the social security administration, they will have to submit to an interview appointment. Understandably, the idea of having to go through such an interview makes some claimants nervous and questions arise in their minds such as:

What will they ask me?, What should I bring with me when I go to my interview appointment?, Are there good or bad answers for some of the questions they will ask?...

Being nervous before a disability interview takes place is natural. After all, simply being in the position of filing for disability automatically connotes a high level of need, both for the individual applicant and for the well-being of their family.

However, the social security disability interview is really nothing to be fearful about. The interview is conducted at a social security office by a social security employee known as a claims rep. And its purpose is simply to gather initial information that is needed to get a claim started and put into the system for processing.

The following page provides additional information regarding this topic:

Social Security Disability Interview — what it involves

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Neurological problems and social security disability
Social security disability case and medical records
Social security disability application and age
Getting a disability hearing sooner
How long for a disability hearing?
What does social security consider disabilities?
Social security disability reconsideration

SSD Benefits, Depression, and Mental Testing

Depression is seen quite often on applications for social security disability and SSI. And like every other physical and mental impairment, depression is evaluated in terms of its ability to reduce or eliminate an individual's ability to work, either at a job they've done in the past, or at some form of other work.

This, of course, means that a person filing for disability must have their medical records evaluated to determine their restrictions and what they are still capable of doing (known as their residual functional capacity). It also means that when the records obtained for a claimant do not provide enough information, the claimant may be requested to go to some form of testing.

For physical impairments, this testing typically involves going to a physical examination (known as a CE, or consultative examination). For mental impairments, this often means going to some form of mental evaluation (this could include a mental status exam, a psychological CE, which is essentially an IQ test, or a psychiatric exam).

The following page discusses mental exams (testing) that may be required for disability applications in which depression is a featured impairment.

Social Security Disability, Depression, and Mental Testing

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Additional Entries

Request for reconsideration
Outcomes for a decision on a disability claim
Social security disability appeal deadlines
Social security disability claim processing
Disability claim filing - 3 three things to consider
How does social security define who is disabled?
How long will it take to appeal my disability case

Saturday, March 22, 2008

I Heard That Social Security Disability Will Deny You Several Times

It’s no secret that it is not easy to be approved for social security disability (SSD) or SSI benefits. You may take months putting together your medical records and your work history, be the subject of more than one disability interview, your friends or family may be questioned about your medical condition and the types of activities you are able to perform, etc. It is not, generally, a pleasant process, and the harsh reality is that your claim, no matter how strong, is likely to be denied.

Seventy percent of claims are denied by the disability examiner at the state disability determination services agency (DDS), and most request for reconsideration forms, or appeals to DDS to reconsider the disability claim, are denied as well (only about 15 percent of these first appeals are approved).

In fact, many people have asserted that there is a set number of times (the general consensus seems to be three) that an application for disability must be made before DDS is allowed to approve it. This belief is, however, entirely false. There is no such policy in place at social security, regardless of the fact that everything seems to point that way.

Perhaps this belief stems from the nature of the disability determination process itself. There are three levels through which an application can pass before ultimately being approved or denied. The first level of consideration (the initial claim) and the second level of consideration (the reconsideration appeal) are determined at DDS. The third level of consideration occurs before an administrative law judge, who will review the case and either overturn or concur with the denial. The odds of being approved do increase at each level, and the best chance a claim has for approval is when it is heard before an administrative judge (about forty percent of these claims are approved).

Indeed, many claimants with strong medical evidence to back up their claim are denied twice by DDS, only to later be approved by an administrative law judge. This means, of course, that most people with a truly disabling condition are denied for no apparent reason at the first two levels of consideration.

The unfortunate truth is, the disability determination process is more than a little random, although to those applying for disability benefits this fact may be even more discouraging than the common misconception that the third time will be the charm.

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Additional Entries

Social security may send you to a medical examination. But why?
Social Security Disability Decisions (the medical determination)
Mental disability - applying for benefits
SSD SSI disability process
To file for a social security disability reconsideration
Qualifying for disability
Disability claims filed with social security

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Snore quietly and reduce your chances of cardiovascular diseases

Could it be possible that loud snoring is linked to heart disease and stroke? A group of Hungarian scientists think so after interviewing more than 12,000 snorers.

The idea isn’t new, many health professionals and scientists have been making this connection, but only recently has there been data to back up this theory.

After interviewing the 12,000 snorers, they concluded that loud snorers had a 67% larger chance of suffering a stroke than non-snorers or quiet snorers, while 54% had a greater chance of experiencing a heart attack.

The study was published in Journal Sleep and identified that loud snoring, accompanied by breathing pauses, could actually help doctors identify people at risk for cardiovascular disease.

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Social Security Disability Tips

Prior Posts

Heart Disease Killing Young Women
Middle age women, obesity, and strokes
Sleep Disorders and other problems
Can you get ssd ssi disability for high blood pressure?
Heart Problems and Disability
Disability and Obesity
Disability and Marfan's Syndrome

How Can You Prove a Social Security Disability Case if You Aren’t Able to Go to the Doctor?

If you are suffering from a disabling medical condition and filing for social security disability benefits, chances are you are either out of work or working very little, which means it is also highly likely that you have no health insurance. This presents a catch-22 to the average claimant filing for social security disability (SSD) or SSI benefits, since you cannot prove a disabling medical condition to disability determination services (DDS) without medical records, and you cannot get in to see most doctors without medical insurance.

It is much more difficult to be approved for disability benefits if you don’t have health insurance, yet it is not impossible. If you have worked in the past and were lucky enough to have had health coverage, you can gather and submit those prior medical records to DDS to establish the date of onset of your condition (when the trouble began). However, recent medical records will also be needed to demonstrate to the disability examiner that you are currently disabled.

If you don’t have health insurance, your best bet for getting in to see a doctor is by making use of the free medical clinics in your area. While many see these clinics as a sort of warehouse in which the poor and indigent are treated without much care or attention, it is possible to establish a relationship with a physician at a free clinic simply by requesting to see that particular physician each time you go or make an appointment. You may want to tell the physician at the clinic that you are currently seeking disability relief for your condition, and find that he or she is sympathetic to your case, which would be helpful as well.

You can also go to the emergency room for treatment, since these medical facilities are required to treat individuals regardless of their health coverage (or lack of it). The downside of this type of medical treatment is that you will have no control over who is the attending physician on call, and so you may not be able to establish a consistent diagnosis or pattern of treatment by sporadically going to the ER.

If all else fails and you are unable to get in to see a doctor enough to corroborate your disability, then either the disability examiner assigned to review your claim or reconsideration appeal, or the disability judge (if DDS denies your claim you can and should request a reconsideration appeal and if that appeal is also denied you should request a hearing before an administrative judge) will schedule a social security consultative exam, or CE.

The consultative medical exam will take place with an assigned physician, who will provide the disability examiner or judge with a medical opinion about the current state of your condition, so that there is recent medical evidence on which to base a decision in your case. If you are scheduled for a CE, do not miss the appointment! This alone may be used as a basis for denial of your claim.

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Social Security Disability Tips

Prior Posts

What happens when Lasik Surgery Fails
Heart Disease on the Rise
Strokes in middleage women

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Heart Disease on the Rise Once Again in the United States

Recently, researchers from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Columbia analyzed autopsy information from over four hundred individuals who had passed away in Olmsted County, Minnesota of unnatural causes such as murder, suicide, or accidents between 1981 and 2004. What they discovered was that most of the individuals ages 16- 64 had clogged coronary arteries. In fact, about eighty three percent of the deceased individuals showed signs of early coronary artery disease and another eight percent had significant coronary artery disease.

Heart disease rates in the United States climbed in the twentieth century until the sixties, when rates began to decline due to decreased tobacco use and life style changes. However, all of this began to change with the introduction of the computer and more sedentary lifestyles (both work and play). At the same time, schools reduced the importance of physical education, fast food chains expanded, and we saw increased consumption of processed carbohydrates and sugar, which in turn has led to an explosion of obesity in the United States.

The convergence of all these factors may be responsible for the demise of four decades of steady decline in the rate of coronary artery disease (such as atherosclerosis). Researchers are conducting a second study of the same dates to determine how large a role diabetes and obesity may have played in the increased incidence of heart disease.

A second unique study performed at the Hattiesburg Clinic in Mississippi analyzed data from a federal study of patients with hypertension. The study attempted to discern whether or not hypertension patients had been able to adhere to a diet that helps control hypertension. The study compared patient data in the years 1988 – 1994, and also in the years 1999 – 2004. These study dates were important because a 1997 study indicated that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables with low fat diary products lowered hypertension.

Researchers were somewhat surprised to find that even with the information available to patients from the 1997 study, hypertension patients were still choosing to eat worse not better. In this study, the youngest group was the group that was found to have the worst disease incidence, which, of course, confirms the effect of poor eating habits combined with sedentary lifestyle (the inference being that younger individuals had been influenced most by the use of electronic technologies such as computers, game systems, and other technological advances).

This study confirms the findings of the Mayo Clinic study in that younger individuals are most affected by the current trends. Consequently, younger individuals may be destined to have major problems as they age.

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Social Security Disability Tips

Prior Posts

Understanding Chronic pain
A call for disability rights
Lyme disease and very severe symptoms
Robot Befriends Disabled Children
Older adults in Pennsylvania
Heart disease and young women
Graded exercise therapy and chronic fatigue

What happens when Lasik Surgery Fails

Can LASIK eye surgery fail? The answer to this question is yes. Every year over one million individuals have LASIK eye surgery to correct their vision with mostly positive results. However, about two to three percent of all procedures fail and leave patients with worse vision than they experienced prior to their surgery. You're saying to yourself, "a two or three percent failure rate is not bad", so what is the problem? Well if you’re in the two or three percent of failed procedures, you may be left with permanent visual disturbances, vision loss, and eye pain.

An article in the Chicago Tribune stated that patients who undergo LASIK vision corrective surgery must sign a release that outlines a large list of potential risks before surgery. However, this extensive list of risks does not include the risk of severe depression if the individual is left with permanent eye damage from the procedure.

Most ophthalmologists would have us believe there is no cause and effect issue with ruined vision and depression. Unfortunately, unsuccessful surgical procedures may leave an individual with constant eye pain and vision problems; consequently, patients are often depressed and frustrated. Lets face it, these individuals are not only left with vision loss and pain, and additional remorse and depression---These individuals actually paid someone to take their sight away.

Most doctors agree that patients who are susceptible to anxiety and depression may not be the best candidates for LASIK surgery, however I do not agree with medical professionals such as Dr. Alan Carlson of Duke Eye Center, when he compared failed LASIK surgery to the depression that follows the unsatisfactory results of plastic surgery. My expectation of such a surgery would be that I would at least be able to see as well as I did prior to the surgery, not worse. Simply put, there is no comparison between the two.

The Federal Food and Drug Administration has responded to patient complaints with plans of a national study to determine the relationship between LASIK complications and quality of life issues including but not limited to depression and anxiety. Currently, there are very few studies that address quality of life issues related to corrective eye surgery.

The FDA has formed a task force of representatives from both the National Eye Institute and the National Institutes of Health, that will be responsible for creating a nationwide study to address the complications of failed LASIK procedures. The FDA is planning a broad comprehensive study that will be performed by laser surgeons across the United States.

My main concern with the FDA study is how objective will laser surgeons be when their livelihood depends upon LASIK corrective procedures, especially since most of the vision professionals in this article refused to believe there was any correlation between ruined vision and significant post procedure depression.

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Social Security Disability Tips

Prior Posts

Doubting Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue
Fatigue, sources of
Social Security Disability Backlog
Disability Rights
A new drug for MS
Lyme Disease symptoms
Diabetes and Insulin therapy

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Number of Strokes Among Middle Age Women Triples due to Obesity

Dr. Amytis Towfighi, of the University of Southern California, used National Health And Nutrition Survey information (gathered on about five thousand individuals in two studies conducted between 1988 –1994 and 1999-2004, respectively) to reach some interesting conclusions. Only about half of one percent of the women, ages 35 -54, surveyed in the 1988-1994 study reported that they had had a stroke compared to 2 percent of the women, ages 35-54, in the 1999-2004 study.

Why did the number of strokes among middle-aged women triple in spite of fact that they were on medications that controlled cholesterol and hypertension? Health survey data seems to indicate that obesity, especially abdominal fat, is a stronger stroke risk factor for women than men.

In fact, the portion of women with abdominal obesity increased from forty seven percent to fifty nine percent during this time. Women’s average body mass increased from 27 in the first study to 29 during the second study, and waistlines had increased about two inches between the two studies. Traditional risk factors such as diabetes, heart disease, or smoking did not increase enough statistically to be the culprit.

This study simply confirms that obesity creates an environment that is conducive for other co-morbidities such as diabetes and heart disease to enter the picture. Once these co-morbidities are introduced, middle age women begin to experience stroke rates that are comparable to men of the same age. This is alarming because men have traditionally been at greater risk for stroke than women, and now middle-aged women may be at greater risk than middle age men for stroke.

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Social Security Disability Tips

Prior Posts

Chronic pain and the brain
Surgery and artificial cervical discs
Sleep disorders and other problems
The odds of winning your social security disability
Lessening MS frequency and exacerbations
Management of migraines

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Chronic Pain Alters the way the brain Processes Information

Dante Chialvo, Northwestern University of Chicago, conducted a study that compared the brain activity of fifteen chronic pain sufferers to the brain activity of fifteen healthy individuals through functional magnetic resonance imaging. The study volunteers were given a simple task to perform, such as following a moving bar on a computer screen in an effort to observe the brain changing back and forth between resting and active mode.

Both test groups perform well, however functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that chronic pain sufferers had to use much more of their brain to process the simple task. Some chronic pain sufferers had to use as much as fifty percent of the brain to complete the task compared to healthy individuals.

Brain scans show that individuals with chronic pain have constant brain activity in areas that should be resting. These findings indicate that this over activity of certain areas of the brain in chronic pain suffers may explain why chronic pain sufferers often have attention problems, depression, sleep disturbances, and anxiety.

The study data also points out that this is not just a simple matter of a healthy brain processing constant pain, rather it is a brain altered by persistent pain processing information in a way that mimics other neurological disorders linked with cognitive problems.

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Social Security Disability Tips

Prior Posts

Multiple Sclerosis Response To Treatment May Vary Depending on Patient's Genes
Sending the wrong forms can be costly
The ADA and Service Animals - Service Animals are not considered “Pets”
Obtaining Disability Benefits for Wounded Soldiers

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

New Research indicates too many immune cells may trigger Lupus

About one and half million Americans suffer from lupus. Lupus is a disease that is caused by an overactive immune system, in which immune cells attack body organs such as the brain, kidneys, heart, lungs, joints, and blood.

Researchers at St. Louis University conducted a small genetic study that involved fourteen patients with lupus and an equal number of healthy individuals. They studied the genetic profile studies of three types of white blood cells. The results showed the individuals with the most severe cases of lupus had an increase of activity among the white blood cells that are responsible for preventing cell death.

Researchers believe the next step is to try to manipulate either the gene/genes responsible for anti-death cell production, or to control the protein these cells produce. The study seems to indicate that if they can turn off the anti-death cells or control their protein output, there might a way to restore a healthy balance in the body.

What is exciting about the results of this study is that is opens the door to new treatment possibilities for lupus. The standard treatment for lupus involves NSAIDS, immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporine and azathioprine, anti-malarias, and steroids that can cause severe side affects.

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Social Security Disability Tips

Additional Entries

Disability Benefits
Filing for Disability
How to apply for disability - SSD and SSI
Does my condition qualify for disability - links
Disability qualifications - how do you medically qualify for social security disability?
Social Security Disability Requirements

Prior Posts

For the sake of your own health, avoid depressed doctors
Social Security Comparable to a 225, 000.00 retirement plan for an average retiree
Budget shortfalls for Social Security still in budget
Does Premature Birth Increase the likelihood of Adult Disability?
Study find no evidence exists that supports a link between autism and vaccine

Can sleep disorders signify other problems

Pakistani researchers conducted a study that involved twenty-two adults, who were being evaluated for obstructive sleep apnea. The study evaluated both the degree of sleep apnea and attention deficit impairment. What they found is that over half the adults in the study suffered from significant attention impairment. Eighteen percent of the adults continued to have significant attention impairment after treatment for sleep apnea; consequently these individuals were diagnosed with adult attention deficit disorder.

Further testing indicated that individuals who suffer from neuromuscular and psychiatric conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue also suffered from significant sleep disorders.

The fact of the matter is that many patients will not receive further evaluation for sleep disorders due to forced limitations of time put upon medical professionals in today’s managed - care environment. What do I mean by managed-care environment? Insurance companies often limit the amount of visits (especially when it involves mental health issues) an individual may receive per year. Additionally, mental health treatment is often more expensive to the patient because many insurance companies do not cover as much of the treatment cost as they cover for treatment of physical ailments.

Consequently, it is a double edge sword for both medical professionals and their patients, as patients are forced to bear more of the financial burden and the caregivers are forced to limit their time with the patients. So what happens? Patients with sleep disorders are treated symptomatically, and no further evaluation of underlying problems is given.

The conclusion of this small study suggests that psychologists and psychiatrists treating individuals with attention deficit disorder may have to consider the possibility of sleep apnea as well as other sleep problems. Conversely, medical professionals should be aware that symptoms of sleep apnea might indicate other psychiatric conditions or other sleep disorders.

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Social Security Disability Degenerative Disc Disease
Social Security Disability Fibromyalgia
social security disability application
Filing a social security disability application
Social Security Award Letter

Prior Posts

Requirements for disability benefits
How long does it take for a reconsideration for SSI?
Migraines and a hole in the heart
Qualifying for disability on the first application
Social Security Disability Attorney Fee - it is not paid upfront

Saturday, March 1, 2008

New Cervical Artificial Disc Surgery

Up until recently, those suffering from degenerative disc disease could only resort to spinal fusion surgery to relieve themselves from muscle spasms, weakness, numbness and pain. Unfortunately, the process of cervical spinal fusion limits range of motion in the neck and does not allow for normal function and movement.

However, there is now an alternative to cervical back fusion that will allow patients to keep the integrity of movement within their necks – cervical artificial disc surgery, also known as cervical disc arthoplasty. This minimally invasive procedure is the first artificial disc for the spine approved by the FDA and has been created to mimic the disc’s normal functioning.

The implant is called the Prestige Cervical Disc and has been successfully implemented, while preserving range of motion in the neck. The first cervical artificial disc implant was performed in January 2008 at Forum Health Northside Medical Center. The surgery was successful and the patient was returned home the next day.

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