BVA Case 23-5580: Ptsd

The Board noted that in an April 2016 opinion,the veteran's treating VA provider stated that a medical article linked PTSD and TBI to OSA and opined that it is more likely than not that the veteran's OSA was caused by service-connected injuries.

But the Board noted that the opinion did not identify the injuries that caused the veteran's OSA,and the veteran was not service 1 Amir Sharafkhaneh et al.

The examiner opined that it was less likely that the veteran's OSA was directly related to service,noting that a nexus had not been established between military service in general and OSA.

May 2023 Board Decision In the May 2023 decision on appeal,the Board denied service connection for OSA,finding that the evidence persuasively weighed against finding that the veteran's OSA resulted from the veteran's active service,including Persian Gulf service or a period of active or inactive duty training,or that his OSA was caused or aggravated by his service-connected PTSD.

Lee was diagnosed with OSA,but the Board found that OSA was not a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness;so, Mr.

Lee's February 2006 in- service complaints of frequent trouble sleeping that he attributed to insomnia,and the Board noted that in a medical history dated a week later, Mr.

The Board noted that during a June 2006 VA examination conducted 2 months after his discharge from service, Mr.

The Board noted that the June 2016 examiner stated that the risks for OSA included advancingage,being male,obesity,and craniofacial or upper airway soft tissue abnormalities, and additional risk factors includedsmoking,nasal congestion,and family history.