Diabetes Mellitus is a disease in which a person’s blood glucose levels are too high. For people with type 2 diabetes, their bodies do not make enough insulin or do not use insulin properly. Insulin is the hormone that helps glucose get into your cells to give them energy. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in the blood and can cause serious problems including damage to the eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
In order to receive disability for diabetes, a person must either be unable to work for 12 months or be expected to be unable to work for at least 12 months. The damage caused by diabetes must severely limit a person’s activities. Social Security will also analyze the complications that derive from diabetes to see if a person meets a Listing for that impairment. If the condition is so severe that it meets the requirements of the Listing, a person qualifies for disability. Some complications that arise from diabetes that may meet a Listing include diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, cardiovascular problems, amputation of an extremity, and poorly healing skin.
For more information on Social Security disability benefits and diabetes, contact an experienced Social Security disability attorney at Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. today at 251-343-1111 for a free case evaluation. Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. represents Social Security disability claimants in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana at all levels of the disability process from initial application to appeals to Federal Court.