A disorder that afflicts over 20 million in the United States alone

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes you may have no symptoms at all. In fact, according to the American Diabetes Association, the vast majority of people with diabetes can safely work. Nevertheless, complications from diabetes can be disabling.
Diabetes is a disorder manifested by high blood glucose (sugar) levels. Normally, your body carefully regulates the level of glucose in your blood. After you eat and digest food, your pancreas produces insulin, which causes glucose to be transferred from your
bloodstream to the cells of your body. Your cells then use glucose to produce energy. In diabetes, either the amount of insulin produced is insufficient to properly regulate the blood sugar level, or the cells of your body are resistant to insulin.
There are two types of diabetes. In type I diabetes, which is genetically inherited, the pancreas is unable to produce any insulin at all. This usually results in a severe disability that begins before adulthood but can be controlled by regular insulin injections. Therefore, type I diabetes is also known as “insulin-dependent.” With proper medical care, somebody with this type of diabetes can do most kinds of work; however, an incorrect dose of insulin can have dangerous consequences that can affect workplace safety.
In type II diabetes, which is far more common, your pancreas generates insufficient insulin for the amount you have eaten, or your cells have become resistant to insulin. This type of diabetes is controlled by diet and exercise; if diet and exercise do not work, then medications or insulin injections may be added.
Generally, diabetes itself does not qualify one to receive Social Security disability benefits unless there are complications. Such complications, however, are very common if diabetes is not successfully controlled. The following complications are so severe that the Social Security Administration will likely award you benefits if they prevent you from working:

• Neuropathy (nerve damage) resulting in serious interference in your ability to control the movement of at least two limbs,
• Diabetic ketoacidosis (a medical emergency) if it occurs once every two months, or even more frequently, and is documented by appropriate lab test results, or
• Retinopathy (disease of the retina of the eye), if it results in blindness or near-blindness.

Diabetes can also be associated with harm to other parts of the body. Sometimes, for example, diabetes causes kidney disease. If the kidney disease is sufficiently severe to require long-term dialysis (lasting at least a year) or transplantation, you will likely qualify for benefits if you cannot work because of the disease. Likewise, diabetes often occurs together with heart disease. Heart disease can qualify you for disability benefits either by virtue of severity
alone or because of its effects on what the Social Security Administration calls your “residual functional capacity.”
If any of these conditions, or any other medical condition, makes it impossible for you to work, then it may benefit you to consult a lawyer, particularly if your initial application for Social Security benefits has been denied. A reduced “residual functional capacity” is notoriously difficult to prove, even if your doctor thinks you cannot work. If you call Bill Gordon & Associates at 1-866-646-0626, we can assist you with your Social Security disability appeal.