This category includes disorders involving the digestive system, including obstruction of the esophagus, peptic ulcer disease, chronic liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, regional enteritis and chronic liver disease.

Weight loss is a common sign of these disorders. Pain, fatigue and incontinence are also frequently present. These are significant symptoms because they can limit an individual's ability to perform the physical tasks associated with even very light work.

Evaluating disability claims involving digestive disorders requires familiarity with the clinical signs that typically accompany these disorders, and an understanding of how the symptoms they produce limit an individual's ability to work. It is unlikely that a person with nothing more than occasional heartburn will qualify for an award of Social Security disability. However, people with more severe digestive disorders have a good chance of being awarded benefits if their cases are properly developed.