The Board has determined that the veteran's heart disability with high blood pressure is not incurred or aggravated by active service and is not proximately due to his service-connected diabetes mellitus. As a result, the claim for service connection is denied.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found it less likely than not that the veteran's hypertension and coronary artery disease are etiologically related to military service, as there was no evidence of sustained hypertension until after discharge from service and no evidence of coronary artery disease until many years later. The examiner also stated that it is less likely than not that the veteran's heart disability with high blood pressure is caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disability, high blood pressure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2007
- Citation
- 0710635
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 0710635.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 remanded the claims for service connection for a back disorder, high blood pressure, and type II diabetes mellitus due to errors in development of the claim.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension was granted service connection effective August 10, 2022. The heart disability was granted secondary to the hypertension.,An initial rating of 30% for the heart disability was granted in May 2023 and increased to 60% since October 22, 2024.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a heart disability, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral knee condition, high blood pressure, and low back condition. Service connection was also denied for pseudofolliculitis barbae.
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