Veterans Agent Orange Exposure & Dementia

SDianeL

My husband is a USMC Vietnam Veteran, 100% disabled for other service related conditions due to Agent Orange exposure. He was also diagnosed 2 years ago with Dementia. I found this information and it may help veterans diagnosed with Dementia get help from the VA.

"Is dementia linked to Agent Orange? In a nationally representative sample of more than 300 000 veterans of the Vietnam era, we found that exposure to Agent Orange was associated with approximately a 2-fold increased risk of being diagnosed with incident dementia and an earlier age of dementia diagnosis. From the National Institutes of Health (government)."

Although Dementia is not on the presumptive list, you can still file a claim if the veteran served in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange. Getting a disability rating from the VA entitles your veteran and spouse/caregiver many benefits including respite care. Ratings range from 0% to 100% based on the stage of memory loss. For assistance, look for a Veteran Service Officer in your county. They are not paid by the VA. You can usually find them at American Legions or VFW. Freedom Isn't Free.

Cathy123

we also filed claim to Agent Orange and Alzheimer’s not that it would increase any more percentage of disability, but to make the statement 50 years later with no other known reason why we ended up with this messed up disease. Your post was great. Ore vets need to be reached. Thanks!

SDianeL

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/182362#Comment_182362

I just found this website today. It has many resources for Veterans who have memory loss. https://www.va.gov/geriatrics/?utm_campaign=bulletin_September_2023&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

JJAz

Although Alzheimer's Disease is not on the presumptive list, Lewy Body Dementia is included via Parkinsonism (not Parkinson's Disease) on the presumptive list for Agent Orange. My husband was approved at 100% posthumously for LBD and I now receive a VA pension (DIC). For any Lewy Body Dementia spouses, you can join our on-line support group https://groups.io/g/LBDCaringSpouses and find out more information on this any many topics related to Lewy.

Jamie