Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This section defines terms for the compensation chapter and identifies diseases within the statutory chronic-disease category. That category matters to certain presumptions and other service-connection rules.
A condition being long-lasting does not necessarily make it a listed chronic disease for these legal purposes. The diagnosis must be matched to the relevant list and the separate timing and service requirements.
How this helps your claim
Use the list to check whether VA considered the correct chronic-disease framework. Medical records showing early manifestations can matter when the applicable presumption requires the disease to appear within a specified period.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Compare the exact diagnosis with the statutory and regulatory chronic-disease lists.
- Locate early symptoms, examinations, and diagnostic findings after separation.
- Check the separate service and manifestation requirements that apply to the disease.
Check the legal category behind the word chronic
In medical conversation, chronic often means persistent or long-lasting. This statute identifies a particular legal disease category used by compensation provisions. A condition can be chronic in ordinary language without appearing in that category.
Use the confirmed diagnosis and read the relevant presumption with its service and timing requirements. The list and the conditions for applying it work together. Avoid assuming that a long symptom history alone establishes both a listed disease and every requirement of a presumptive connection.
Does any condition lasting more than a year qualify as a listed chronic disease?
No. Duration alone does not place a diagnosis in the statutory category. The disease identity and applicable legal provisions matter. A long history may still be relevant evidence under another supported service-connection analysis, but it should not be mislabeled as this particular presumption.
Official statutory text
38 USC § 1101
OLRC release through Public Law 119-102 (July 12, 2026). Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The statutory text is shown here; publisher source credits and editorial notes remain in the linked official release.
§ 1101. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter—
(1) The term “veteran” includes a person who died in the active military, naval, air, or space service.
(2) The term “period of war” includes, in the case of any veteran—
(A) any period of service performed by such veteran after November 11, 1918, and before July 2, 1921, if such veteran served in the active military, naval, air, or space service after April 5, 1917, and before November 12, 1918; and
(B) any period of continuous service performed by such veteran after December 31, 1946, and before July 26, 1947, if such period began before January 1, 1947.
(3) The term “chronic disease” includes—
Anemia, primary
Arteriosclerosis
Arthritis
Atrophy, progressive muscular
Brain hemorrhage
Brain thrombosis
Bronchiectasis
Calculi of the kidney, bladder, or gallbladder
Cardiovascular-renal disease, including hypertension
Cirrhosis of the liver
Coccidioidomycosis
Diabetes mellitus
Encephalitis lethargica residuals
Endocarditis
Endocrinopathies
Epilepsies
Hansen’s disease
Hodgkin’s disease
Leukemia
Lupus erythematosus, systemic
Myasthenia gravis
Myelitis
Myocarditis
Nephritis
Organic diseases of the nervous system
Osteitis deformans (Paget’s disease)
Osteomalacia
Palsy, bulbar
Paralysis agitans
Psychoses
Purpura idiopathic, hemorrhagic
Raynaud’s disease
Sarcoidosis
Scleroderma
Sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral
Sclerosis, multiple
Syringomyelia
Thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger’s disease)
Tuberculosis, active
Tumors, malignant, or of the brain or spinal cord or peripheral nerves
Ulcers, peptic (gastric or duodenal)
and such other chronic diseases as the Secretary may add to this list.
(4) The term “tropical disease” includes—
Amebiasis
Blackwater fever
Cholera
Dracontiasis
Dysentery
Filiariasis
Hansen’s disease
Leishmaniasis, including kala-azar
Loiasis
Malaria
Onchocerciasis
Oroya fever
Pinta
Plague
Schistosomiasis
Yaws
Yellow fever
and such other tropical diseases as the Secretary may add to this list.
Related references
- 38 USC § 5107: Benefit of the doubt in VA claims
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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