What are the top causes of disability?

Did you know that you have about a one in three chance of ending up with a condition that renders you disabled before you reach retirement age? Disability is a very real issue for thirty percent of the population, and there may be very little that you can do to prevent it. As such, it’s important to know about some of the top causes of disability, which are as follows:

— Back pain– Arthritis– Heart disease– Depression– Cancer– Diabetes

Many of these are very general terms that can relate to a lot of different conditions. For example, cancer makes the list as a general category, but disabilities spring from all different types of cancer, from liver cancer to skin cancer. Sometimes, cancers can be cured and people can return to work. However, this is not the case with everyone, even if the cancer does not turn out to be fatal.

Similarly, heart disease can relate to issues like heart attacks and strokes, and diabetes can relate to either Type I or Type II. People often assume that diabetes is only brought on by being overweight. However, the reality is that it is also genetic, so it’s possible for very healthy people who keep themselves in great shape to get diabetes.

As with cancer, neither heart disease nor diabetes, of either type, is automatically a disability. Since these six main areas impact people differently, you definitely need to know what legal steps you need to take if you want to show that your case should count as a disability and qualify you for appropriate compensation.

Source: WebMD, “Leading Causes of Disability,” R. Morgan Griffin, accessed June 11, 2015