Blast exposure, TBI, and your claim

Why now

VA's Oct 30, 2026 Research Wrap Up covered a Millennium Cohort study of health records for more than 36,000 Veterans (2013-2021). Veterans hurt by a blast had higher rates of many conditions: hepatitis C (89% higher) and seizures (79% higher) topped the list, along with stroke, nerve damage, angina, high cholesterol, diabetes, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and some infections.

Important: this is research. It does not create a VA presumption. You still need evidence linking each condition to service or to a service-connected injury. The study may help a doctor explain why a link is plausible.

How VA rates TBI: DC 8045

Residuals of TBI are rated under Diagnostic Code 8045 in 38 CFR 4.124a. VA looks at three areas: cognitive, emotional/behavioral, and physical.

• Cognitive problems and subjective symptoms go on a table with 10 facets (memory, judgment, social interaction, orientation, and others). The highest facet sets the rating: level 1 = 10%, 2 = 40%, 3 = 70%, and any "total" facet = 100%.
• If you have a diagnosed mental disorder, emotional/behavioral symptoms are rated under the mental disorders schedule instead.
• Physical residuals (headaches such as migraine, hearing loss and tinnitus, vision, seizures, balance, and more) are rated separately under their own codes, as long as the same symptoms aren't counted twice.
• The "mild/moderate/severe" label in your records describes the injury at the time, not today, and doesn't set the DC 8045 rating.

Conditions VA ties to a service-connected TBI

Under 38 CFR 3.310(d), if your TBI is already service-connected, VA treats these as caused by it unless there is clear evidence otherwise:

• Parkinsonism, including Parkinson's disease, after moderate or severe TBI.
• Unprovoked seizures after moderate or severe TBI.
• Certain dementias (presenile dementia of the Alzheimer type, frontotemporal, Lewy body) if they show up within 15 years of moderate or severe TBI.
• Depression within 3 years of moderate or severe TBI, or within 12 months of mild TBI.
• Hormone-deficiency diseases from hypothalamo-pituitary changes within 12 months of moderate or severe TBI.

Outside those limits you can still win: VA must decide the claim under normal service-connection rules. Severity is judged from symptoms at the time of injury (loss of consciousness, amnesia, Glasgow Coma Scale, imaging). See our secondary claims guide.

Proving the blast happened

• Service records: service treatment records, personnel records, awards (such as a Purple Heart or Combat Action Ribbon), unit reports and any post-blast screening.
• The combat rule: if you served in combat, your own credible account of an injury is accepted when it fits the circumstances of that service, even with no official record (38 U.S.C. 1154(b), 38 CFR 3.304(d)). You still need a current diagnosis and a medical link.
• Buddy statements: people who saw the blast or the change in you can use VA Form 21-10210 (Lay/Witness Statement). VA also lets you submit it online.

Claim each residual

List every residual on your claim by name: headaches, tinnitus, sleep problems, memory trouble, mood changes, seizures. Each one with its own diagnosis can carry its own rating. PTSD and TBI often overlap; see our PTSD and mental health guide.

Never pay anyone to file an initial claim. Free help: a VSO or VA-accredited representative.

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