Can You Be In The Military With Diabetes

Air Force Policy On Diabetes In 2020

The Air Force has similar regulations regarding diabetes like the Army.

The manual notes that is it imperative that the deliberations to deploy a service member with diabetes consider all the factors that can compromise the members safety and the ability to accomplish the mission.

Air Force regulations support the same method as the Army that anyone with a HbA1c of less than 7% is allowed to still get deployed with some careful considerations.

The Air Force supports the general stance of the U.S. military that if found fit for duty, the solider may not get deployed to areas where insulin cannot get properly stored.

Furthermore, there should be appropriate medical support for the individual as well.

Talk to an Air Force recruiter to find out which waiver, if any, would be necessary.

Enlistment After Diagnoses Of Diabetes

As per the 2017 regulations of the US military, you may not be able to join the military if you have diabetes. The official army regulations “standards for Medical fitness” explore that individuals with diabetes history do not meet the standards for enlistment in the military. Especially Army has straightforward rules for not qualifying people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

Soldiers diagnosed with diabetes after enlistment have higher chances of staying in the military if they can perform all duties well. They also need to undergo Medical Board Evaluation to get a thorough check-up.

Each branch in the US military has established different boards for medical evaluation. They check all soldiers to check if they are fit mentally and physically.

Suppose the soldiers do not have extreme symptoms associated with diabetes, like fainting during duty. In that case, they may qualify to serve in the military. However, medical boards have different rules for diabetes depending on the specific board and service member’s particular symptoms and severity level.

The Canadian Human Rights Act

In the case of discrimination in the workplace, if you are employed in federal work, the matter would come under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Subsection 3 , paragraph 7 and section 14 of the Canadian Human Rights Act stipulates the following:

3 For all purposes of this Act, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for which a pardon has been granted are prohibited grounds of discrimination.

7. It is discriminatory practice, directly or indirectly

to refuse to employ or continue to employ an individual on a prohibited ground of discrimination.

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Neurotic Anxiety Mood Somatoform Dissociative Or Factitious Disorders

The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment and induction are a history of such disorders resulting in any or all of the below:

a. Admission to a hospital or residential facility.

b. Care by a physician or other mental health professional for more than six months.

c. Symptoms or behavior of a repeated nature that impaired social, school or work efficiency.

Was Your Claim For Va Disability Diabetes Benefits Denied

If you developed diabetes, specifically type 2 diabetes, during or after your service in the US military, you could be eligible for VA disability benefits. However, to get the VA benefits for diabetes mellitus type 2, you must be able to prove that there was a nexus between the condition and an in-service illness, event, or injury.

It can be challenging to qualify for VA disability diabetes benefits, even when your claim is legitimate. Things like errors in the application process or omission of critical evidence pieces could leave you amongst the list of those whose VA disability claims have been denied. However, you can appeal your claim with the help of a veterans benefits lawyer and receive your share of VA benefits.

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Staying Enlisted After A Diagnosis

The prospects for soldiers who are diagnosed with diabetes after enlisting are less negative and increasingly better as technology improves and diabetes comes to be better understood. Typically, if a soldier is diagnosed while already on active duty, they will be required to undergo a Medical Board Evaluation but may remain enlisted if they are found fit for duty.

Every branch of the U.S. military has established a medical board, whose duty it is to see that every service member who joins the military is mentally and physically prepared for any type of situation they could encounter in the course of their enlistment.

In the Army, soldiers are deployed into many dangerous situations, even if they are not in active combat. Issues arising from diabetes, whether they are longer-term health complications or more immediate situations such as fainting in the line of duty, may preclude the medical board from allowing a soldier to continue to serve. Medical board rulings regarding diabetic service members have varied depending on the specific board and the service member’s case.

Why Does It Matter

Being in the Army can be challenging both physically and mentally.Therefore, a history of health problems or the presence of health conditions that usually don’t affect your everyday life, can mean that you’re not able to join, or you might have to wait to join.

You will be sent forms asking about your medical history once you’ve submitted your application.

The medical team assess everyone individually, and make their decisions based on their professional opinion in keeping with prescribed army standards. These standards and guidelines are reviewed and amended regularly.

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% Va Disability Rating For Diabetes Type 2 Level 1

This rating criterion means that if the veteran has been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and has been told by his doctor to watch his blood sugar and what he eats, the VA will pay him at a 10% level. This level may not require insulin injections but will likely involve some fluctuations in blood pressure.

* Remember that a veteran can be paid for dependents only after he/she has attained a combined rating of 30% or more. Any combined rating below 30% will not be paid for dependents

If the veteran has only just been diagnosed but has not been given any instructions by his doctor, the VA will assign a 0% non-compensable rating. This means that the VA recognizes that he has been diagnosed with diabetes and that his condition is related to service, but believes that the condition is not severe enough to warrant payment. This is not a bad thing since Type II diabetes can become life-threatening in some instances.

As soon as the doctor has provided a diagnosis of diabetes and prescribes some kind of action to treat diabetes such as a restricted diet the veteran can apply for an increased rating based on the new development of his condition. Higher monthly compensation and increased VA disability ratings are then a possibility.

What Veterans Should Know About Diabetes

MSU Extension has type 2 diabetes prevention and self-management programs for veteran communities.

Developing type 2 diabetes can be a serious health concern for veterans and their family members. Type 2 diabetes is a health condition that affects the body’s ability to use blood sugar for energy. After eating, food is broken down into glucose and enters the blood. A hormone is then released, which allows the bodys cells to use glucose for energy. However, with type 2 diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells ignore the insulin. This leads to increased glucose in the bloodstream. Signs of untreated type 2 diabetes include blurry vision, excessive thirst, fatigue, hunger, frequent urination and/or weight loss. Over time, a person living with type 2 diabetes can increase their risk of heart attacks, strokes, nerve damage, kidney disease, and vision loss.

Risk factors for Michigan veterans

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services recommends the following four healthy behaviors to increase longevity, improve quality of life, and reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes:

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What Are The Restrictions For A Person With Type 1 Diabetes Joining The Us Armed Forces If They Are Accepted Are There Any Limits To The Jobs Offered Them

Answer:

People with diabetes cannot join the US armed services at all at present. This is discriminatory, but nobody has yet successfully challenged the US law. Only Israel and Switzerland, to my knowledge, allow non-combatant positions for folks with diabetes. All the rest of the world does not allow people with diabetes to enlist or to stay in the service because of fears of lack of medication and/or insulin reactions during critical times. This is all archaic since there are more non-combatant positions than combatant positions except in full war situations and even then this could be arranged easily, but until somebody challenges this in court, things are unlikely to change.

SBAdditional comments from Dr. Donough OBrien:

I believe the answer is that you cannot enlist. See Military Enlistment Standards.

DOBAdditional comments from Dr. Frank Varon:

I am pretty sure it is considered a pre-existing medical condition and a disqualification from entering the Armed Forces.

FVAdditional comments from David Holtzman:

The questioner can contact their local Armed Forces Recruiting Center. They will have this information. The phone number for this office is in the phone book, listed under US Government.

Stuart J. Brink, MD,

Additional comments from Dr. David Schwartz:How about asking his/her local recruiter?

Monday, January 3, 2022 17:24:40 UTC

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How The Va Rates Type 2 Diabetes

Once the VA has ascertained that a veterans diabetes mellitus condition is service-connected according to medical records or other proof, the raters refer to the rating schedule to determine the level at which the veteran will be paid for that condition. VA uses 38 CFR 4.119, Diagnostic Code 7913 for diabetes mellitus type 2. The possible assigned ratings are as follows: 10%, 20%, 40%, 60%, or a 100% disability rating for diabetes. VA disability claims for diabetes mellitus can vary from extremely severe to much more minor cases depending on the advancement of the medical condition.

The rating schedule for diabetes is Diagnostic Code 7913 and breaks down the ratings for diabetes into five levels.

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Can You Join The Military With Diabetes

January 16, 2018 By Ben Ehinger

Joining the military is a very noble and patriotic thing to do. Fighting to preserve the freedom of this great country is something many want to do, but can you join the military with diabetes?

Questions around military recruiting and diabetes have been asked for many years. There are multiple types of diabetes and even pre-diabetes to consider. If youre considering joining the military, but youre afraid because of diabetes, heres the information you seek.

Determination Of Military Readiness

The medical board is established by each branch of the U.S. Military in order to ensure each service member that joins the military is prepared and ready for any type of situation.

Soldiers are deployed into all types of dangerous situations and must demonstrate basic physical and mental readiness.

Unfortunately, diabetes can cause an unnecessary distraction in times of combat.

It can damage the cohesiveness of a squad, and also put other soldiers at risk if they are attending to your medical needs during combat.

Sadly, diabetes adversely affects the career of a soldier as certain opportunities for promotion and development are restricted or blocked because of the medical condition.

It may prevent you from being able to go on certain assignments which ultimately fosters a bad psyche.

The Army, like other branches of the military, likes to remind servicemembers that the world in which they exist is far different from the real world.

Anything that can get away from the single-minded objective of completing a mission is a serious risk.

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Subtle Signs Of Diabetes You Might Miss

We’d be expecting some hints that we’ve got diabetes, but that isn’t all the time the case. Most adults identified don’t have any diabetes signs in any respect, and in those who do have symptoms, they are incessantly very subtle and can be easily missed.

The maximum common symptoms are common urination , over the top thirst , and blurry imaginative and prescient , says Dr. Cara Pensabene of EHE Health. “Other signs of diabetes include numbness or tingling in your hands and feet, unintentional weight loss, increased fatigue, skin darkening , and frequent yeast infections in women.”

Be certain to appear out for the next signs of diabetes, as some can be extraordinarily serious and result in additional complications.

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Bmi And Physiologic Challenges Affecting Hba1c

The decline in BMI seen in our population coincides with the findings in existing literature on body composition changes following military deployments, particularly those that are less than 7 mo in duration. Studies on U.S. and British soldiers who deployed to Afghanistan for 49 mo reduced their body mass by 25% reflecting a decrement in both fat and lean mass. However, other studies with longer deployment durations suggest that lost body weight tends to recover, or even exceed pre-deployment weights, potentially owing to an increase in fat mass.,

Reduction in weight has been shown to improve glycemic control,,, and our results coincide with the literature. Although our results demonstrate favorable and concordant findings in terms of HbA1c and BMI responses to deployment, glycemic management can be affected other physiologic challenges in a deployed setting, which may be subject to future systematic analyses.

Dietary content and quality also inevitably change in deployment. The overall diet in a deployed environment, as measured by total Healthy Eating Index-2010 score, is considered suboptimal due to limitations in the quality and availability of perishable food items. The limitation in food choices, especially those with lower glycemic indices, is likely to contribute to hyperglycemia.

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Douglas Cairns Of Flying With Diabetes

I was able to spend some time talking with Douglas Cairns from the United Kingdom, who flies with Flying with Diabetes. His ongoing mission is to increase awareness that people with diabetes can pilot aircraft safely, and should be given the opportunity to follow their dreams.

When he lost his flying privileges at age 25 after being a flight instructor with the Royal Air Force, he called the BAA once a year to inquire about possible policy changes for his situation. He was told each year that they had no intention of introducing new policies to allow pilots with insulin dependency to pilot aircraft in the UK.

He remembers he was in Thailand in 1999 when he first heard about the US system for pilots with diabetes to obtain a Class 3 medical certificate to fly privately. He jumped at the chance to get his private license back utilizing the new US system.

Through the organization, Flying with Diabetes, Cairns and other pilots have flown around the world, flown in formation with each other through Diabetes Formation Flight USA, and made special missions to places like Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean, to deliver needed diabetes supplies and medications.

Just this past month in July, 2016, Douglas and another pilot with diabetes, Karl Beeson, set an aviation world speed record with their flights from London to Malta. On the way back, Douglas said it only took them 2 days, as they were able to reach speeds of 220 miles per hour at times.

Getting Tested For Diabetes

Diabetes is diagnosed by using one of four blood tests.

It is simple to get checked at your primary care physicians office or health clinic.

The test will measure your blood glucose level.

It basically monitors how much sugar is in your blood.

It is a really good idea to get tested for diabetes, especially if you are considering the military.

In fact, some people with diabetes do not have symptoms immediately and therefore are unaware of the disease.

The earlier you can learn of a diagnosis, the better your odds of survival just like any deadly disease.

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Can You Enlist In The Military With Pre

Its hard to enlist in the military with Pre-diabetes, Type 1, Type 1.5 or Type 2 diabetes if you are not already in. Again, the severity of your disease is going to be looked at, and you will have to show that you are self-managing your diabetes. Your A1C will need to be in a range where you are not at risk for complications , and you will need to keep your post-prandial blood sugars under 180.

There are many stories related to people who tried to enlist, but were unable to serve. There are stories related to folks with diabetes of all types, including Type 1.5 . There seems to be a large volume of PDQs given out without any medical evaluation being done with just the mention of diabetes on the application. Military recruiters may say no, but then you will have the opportunity to state your case and get approval through waivers. Be prepared for recruiters to say no anyway, and have another plan in case.

General And Miscellaneous Conditions And Defects

The following conditions may disqualify you for military service:

a. Allergic manifestations. A reliable history of anaphylaxis to stinging insects. Reliable history of a moderate to severe reaction to common foods, spices or food additives.

b. Any acute pathological condition, including acute communicable diseases, until recovery has occurred without sequelae.

c. Chronic metallic poisoning with lead, arsenic or silver, or beryllium or manganese.

d. Cold injury, residuals of, such as: frostbite, chilblain, immersion foot, trench foot, deep-seated ache, paresthesia, hyperhidrosis, easily traumatized skin, cyanosis, amputation of any digit or ankylosis.

e. Cold urticaria and angioedema, hereditary angioedema.

f. Filariasis, trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, uncinariasis or other parasitic conditions, if symptomatic or carrier states.

g. Heat pyrexia, heatstroke or sunstroke. Documented evidence of a predisposition , recurrent episodes requiring medical attention or residual injury malignant hyperthermia.

h. Industrial solvent and other chemical intoxication.

i. Motion sickness. An authenticated history of frequent incapacitating motion sickness after the 12th birthday.

j. Mycotic infection of internal organs.

k. Organ transplant recipient.

l. Presence of human immunodeficiency virus or antibody. Presence is confirmed by repeatedly reactive enzyme-linked immunoassay serological test and positive immunoelectrophoresis test, or other DOD-approved confirmatory test.

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