Aurora Social Security Disability Law Blog

There's no question that brain injuries are serious. Traumatic brain injuries, serious though they can be, do not always result in permanent problems. But a long-held belief in the medical community that children are not as vulnerable to the negative effects of such an injury is being called into question by two new studies.

According to a CNN article, the studies show that children who have severe traumatic brain injuries early in their lives may see impaired long-term intellectual ability and cognitive development.

In a blog post last summer, we reported that new studies indicated that there is no link between a virus and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Scientists have now even more firmly concluded that the virus theory is all but "dead and buried."

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a debilitating illness, and a frustrating one at that. There is no cure and it is notoriously difficult to diagnose. The new theory had given many sufferers hope, and many are disappointed that recent studies linking the disease to a virus just aren't true.

Sometimes it takes an unconventional method to help improve one's mental or physical health. According to a recent report published in the International Journal of Person Centered Medicine, volunteering can lead people to be happier and healthier in their lives.

Of course, people suffering from severe mental illness or a debilitating disease are not going to see an immediate fix. But particularly for people suffering from mild to moderate depression, the elderly and those with substance abuse problems or chronic diseases, volunteering can help them feel somewhat better, according to the new research.

In Illinois, there is a 14-year-old state law that requires municipalities to pay full health insurance costs for public safety employees responding to emergencies who are injured catastrophically, or for the family of a worker who is killed.

Many people who are injured on the job rely on Social Security disability benefits. For public workers in Illinois, however, municipalities will help them out.

Scientists recently made an interesting discovery regarding Lupus, an auto-immune disease that leaves sufferers with inflammatory damage, including in the skin, kidneys, nervous system and lungs.

Researchers, using funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Alliance for Lupus Research, were able to identify a gene mutation involved in causing the disease. The finding apparently disproves a theory that reactive oxygen species molecules perpetuate inflammation but fight infection.

Deep brain stimulation was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997 to treat those suffering from movement disorders, such as Parkinson's Disease and dystonia. But now scientists believe it may be extremely beneficial for those who suffer from mental illness as well.

DBS has not been used in testing on psychiatric patients much before, although there have been a handful of people with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder who have participated in testing.

When people become injured or are seriously ill, they often don't have time to wait for their Social Security disability benefits to be approved. Yet, far too often, people who are terminally ill have seen their claims rejected, or have waited literally years for them to be approved.

According to the Wall Street journal, the Social Security Administration has even come up with a code to describe appeals that have been dismissed because the applicant passed away while they were waiting. They are called DXDI designations, and there have been over 15,000 of them.

The number of Americans who receive Social Security disability payments has increased by 47 percent since 2002. That's a staggering statistic.

Two new studies have revealed that it's becoming more common for unemployed people to apply for disability benefits once their unemployment insurance runs out. According to the Huffington Post, more than a tenth of Americans between the ages of 50 and 65 with no access to $5,000 apply for Social Security disability benefits as soon as their unemployment insurance runs out.