The Board has determined that the veteran's gastro-esophageal reflux disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome and numbness in hands and arms, sleep disturbance (not due to psychiatric disability), headaches, and poor appetite and weight loss are all service-connected based on their association with undiagnosed illness experienced during her service in the Gulf War theater.
The deciding factor: The veteran's complaints of gastrointestinal issues, hand/arm pain, sleep disturbances, visual problems, and weight changes were attributed to conditions that developed or worsened due to her service in the Persian Gulf region, which is considered an environment associated with undiagnosed illness.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastro-esophageal reflux disorder, Carpal tunnel syndrome and/or disability manifested by numbness in the hands and arms, Sleep disturbance (not due to psychiatric disability), Refractive error, Blurred vision, Headaches, Poor appetite and weight loss
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 14, 2001
- Citation
- 0116229
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0116229.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for obstructive sleep apnea and headaches, finding that the evidence does not support a finding of persistent daytime hypersomnolence or other manifestations consistent with a compensable disability rating under the criteria established by Diagnostic Codes. The matter is remanded to obtain additional information from the Veteran regarding his headaches and their impact on his daily life.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as secondary to PTSD, but his headaches are denied due to lack of service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's headaches, which manifested as very frequent and prolonged attacks causing severe economic inadaptability, are granted a 50 percent disability rating for the entire period on appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for a 30 percent disability rating for his service-connected headaches, which was awarded with a noncompensable rating at 0 percent. The Board is remanding the claim due to inadequate examination and the need for a new VA examination to evaluate the severity of the Veteran's headaches without considering the ameliorating effects of any medication.
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