Chronic Kidney Disease and Social Security Disability

This is a picture of the late actor Gary Coleman who was born with Chronic Kidney Disease. He was arguably one of the most famous people in the country with the disease. It significantly affected his life. As a result of the illness, and the medications required to control it, he had to undergo daily dialysis and the medications he had to take to control it, limited hid growth to 4 feet 8 inches and his face retained a child-like appearance well into adulthood. Imagine how these things alone could affect your childhood and adolescence much less being a child celebrity.

Your kidneys and how well they work affects your body’s ability to clean your blood, filter extra water out of your blood and control your blood pressure. When your kidneys are damaged, waste products and fluid can build up in your body. That can cause swelling in your ankles, vomiting, weakness, poor sleep, and shortness of breath. Without treatment, the damage can get worse, and your kidneys may eventually stop working. That’s serious, and it can be life-threatening.

Chronic Kidney disease can be caused by many different things and can have a number of different effects on those who suffer from it. When it comes to Social Security Disability and Chronic Kidney Disease you don’t get automatically get disability just because you have it. The same is true of most every disease it’s not the disease but the level of impairment it causes that affects your ability to hold down some kind of, or almost any kind of, job.

There are many factors and potential legal theories that Social Security will examine if Chronic Kidney Disease is part of your case. Some of these include your serum creatinine or serum albumin levels, your glomerular filtration rate, whether you are on dialysis and how frequently you need it, whether you need a kidney transplant or have had one, emergency room visits and hospital stays due to complications from Chronic Kidney Disease, kidney biopsy results and what Stage (I-V) the disease has progressed. Again this is just to name a few factors. Successful Social Security Disability cases are based on many different factors and legal theories.

Social Security is also interested in whether you are suffering from any related conditions that often go hand-in-hand with Chronic Kidney Disease. These include Renal Osteodystrophy (bone disease), Peripheral Neuropathy (nerve damage), Hypervolemia/Hypovolemia (too little or too much fluid in the blood), Anasarca (too much fluid getting between cells causing edema/swelling), and Anorexia. All of these things can have various symptoms and real world effects on the sufferer.

It is important to note that Chronic Kidney Disease can sometimes be managed with, among other things, medication, exercise and good nutrition. Not everyone has to have dialysis or a transplant.

If you or someone you know suffers from Chronic Kidney Disease and would like to know more about your chances of obtaining benefits, contact me for a free consultation.

Note: The above medical information was obtained through Web MD, the National Institutes of Health and the Mayo Clinic. For more information on Kidney Disease go to these sites.