Hypertension (high blood pressure) Board decisions

The Board has granted a rating of 20 percent for the veteran's service-connected left knee disorder, effective from January 25, 2007. The issues regarding neck injury and hypertension have been addressed in the REMAND portion of this decision.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to obtain missing service treatment records, private audiological examination reports, and VA treatment records. The veteran's claims for hearing loss, tinnitus, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension are currently under review.

The veteran's anxiety disorder, NOS is found to have been incurred in service. Service connection for hypertension is granted as secondary to PTSD.

The veteran's hypertension was not incurred in service and is not presumed to have been incurred due to military service.,The veteran has not been shown to currently have GERD that is causally related to his military service.,PTSD does not meet the criteria for an initial evaluation in excess of 30 percent.

The veteran's claims for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, vision loss, peripheral neuropathy, and kidney disorder are remanded due to the need to determine if he was exposed to Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam.

The Board found that there is no competent evidence of a current prostate disorder and denied the veteran's claims for service connection based on exposure to ionizing radiation. The claims for hypertension and heart disease were also denied.

The veteran's PTSD was granted a 70 percent rating from November 24, 2004 onwards. His hypertension secondary to PTSD is also granted.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected generalized anxiety disorder is at least as likely as not to have caused or aggravated his hypertension and coronary artery disease, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran.

The Board has ordered additional development due to the need for a medical opinion regarding the relationship between the veteran's hypertension and pulmonary tuberculosis, which may be related to service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claimed conditions of depression, hypertension, and asthma were not incurred or aggravated by active military service. The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for these conditions.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for a TDIU rating under either the percentage or extraschedular standards.

The veteran's claimed headaches and hypertension are not service-connected. The Board found no evidence of a head injury in service, and the current diagnoses do not meet the criteria for service connection.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for a Travel Board hearing at the Honolulu, Hawaii RO. The issues of service connection for low back disability, jaw injury residuals, and hypertension are pending.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim and determined that new evidence supports a finding of service connection for low back disability, cervical spine disorder, hip disorder, left hand nerve damage, generalized arthritis, hypertension, psychiatric disorder, bilateral knee disability, digestive disorder, and foot disability. The conditions are presumed to have been aggravated by service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's hypertension and low back disability were not incurred in or aggravated by service, and may not be presumed to have been so incurred. Therefore, these claims are denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for hemorrhoids, hypertension, and left knee disorder as his conditions did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings under the applicable rating schedule.

The Board found that the veteran's hypertension was not incurred in or aggravated by service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy, arteriosclerotic heart disease, hypertension, and basal cell carcinoma. The appeals were based on direct service connection rather than herbicide exposure.

The veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to his request for withdrawal of the appeals with regard to the claims for service connection for residuals of back surgery and an acquired psychiatric disability other than PTSD.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a back disability, lower extremity disability, and pension benefits due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service. The veteran was found not permanently and totally disabled from non-service connected disabilities.