Ferritin is a blood protein that contains iron. A ferritin test helps your doctor understand how much iron your body stores. If a ferritin test reveals that your blood ferritin level is lower than normal, it indicates your body’s iron stores are low and you have iron deficiency. As a result, you could be anemic.
What happens if ferritin is high?
Without treatment it can lead to heart problems, infections, slow growth and brain development in children, and other health issues. Higher than normal ferritin levels can mean you have too much iron in your body. Conditions that cause increased iron levels include: Liver disease.
What causes low ferritin?
Causes of low ferritin levels
A lower-than-normal ferritin level can indicate that you have an iron deficiency, which can happen when you don’t consume enough iron in your daily diet. Another condition that affects iron levels is anemia, which is when you don’t have enough red blood cells for iron to attach to.
What are symptoms of high ferritin levels?
Symptoms of having too much ferritin and iron (hemochromatosis, or iron overload) include:
- Painful joints.
- Heart issues.
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Abdominal pain.
- Loss of body hair.
- Lack of sex drive.
- Fatigue or loss of energy.
What does ferritin level tell you? – Related Questions
How do you fix high ferritin levels?
Dietary changes
- avoiding supplements that contain iron.
- avoiding supplements that contain vitamin C, as this vitamin increases iron absorption.
- reducing iron-rich and iron-fortified foods.
- avoiding uncooked fish and shellfish.
- limiting alcohol intake, as this can damage the liver.
Does high ferritin make you tired?
A ferritin blood test can also help your doctor figure out whether your body is storing too much iron. High levels may point to alcohol abuse, infection, liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis, overactive thyroid, or some types of cancer. Symptoms of high iron levels vary and can include: Exhaustion.
What causes sudden high ferritin levels?
This may include inflammatory disorders, liver disease (particularly non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)/fatty liver), alcohol excess, malignancy, renal failure, and metabolic syndrome, which are each more common than hemochromatosis. Fatty liver is a very common cause of high ferritin in out-patients.
What kind of inflammation causes high ferritin?
Ferritin, a crucial element for iron homeostasis, is associated with chronic diseases characterized by subclinical inflammation such as essential arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), showing a prognostic value in different clinical settings.
What cancers are associated with high ferritin levels?
Ferritin is often elevated in the serum of cancer patients including those with neuroblastoma (63), Hodgkinson’s lymphoma (64), cervical (65), oral squamous cell (66), renal cell (67), T cell lymphoma (68), CRC (69), and breast (70) cancers and were often associated with increased tumor grade and shorter survival.
What foods to avoid if ferritin is high?
What to avoid
- Red meat. Most red meats, including beef, lamb, and venison, are a rich source of heme iron.
- Raw shellfish. Shellfish, such as mussels, oysters, and clams, sometimes contain Vibrio vulnificus bacteria.
- Vitamin C. Vitamin C increases the absorption of nonheme iron.
- Fortified foods.
- Alcohol.
Does coffee increase ferritin levels?
In conclusion, we found that an increase in coffee intake was associated with a decrease in serum ferritin levels.
Can exercise reduce ferritin levels?
Ferritin levels decreased 50% in both sexes after 4 weeks of exercise (p<0.05) and remained at this level until the end of the training. Hb and RBC decreased 8–10% in both sexes during the training period. In two of the women anemia occurred after 4 weeks of training.
Can stress cause high ferritin levels?
In contrast, chronic inflammation and oxidative stress may act as a link between elevated serum-ferritin levels, which may contribute to cellular or tissue damage [10].
Can you live with high ferritin?
Most people with hemochromatosis have a normal life expectancy. Survival may be shortened in people who are not treated and develop cirrhosis or diabetes mellitus. Definitions and causes – Hemochromatosis refers to excess iron in the body. The extra iron builds up in organs and can damage them.
Is ferritin a tumor marker?
Serum ferritin levels have been widely used as a tumor biomarker for clinical diagnosis and prognosis evaluation [15]. Ferritin may be used as a marker in renal cell carcinoma [29]. Orlandi et al.
Does vitamin D increase ferritin levels?
Current review concluded that supplementation with vitamin D had no significant effect on hemoglobin and ferritin levels while positive effects on transferrin saturation and iron status were observed.
What type of doctor treats high ferritin?
Hematologists (blood disease specialists)
Can thyroid affect ferritin levels?
Too little thyroid hormone can lower ferritin levels and too much thyroid hormone such as in Graves’ disease will increase ferritin levels sometimes above normal. This study also found that hypothyroidism can lead to low ferritin levels.
Is ferritin related to cholesterol?
LDL-cholesterol, apoB and the electrophoretic mobility of LDL particles were elevated with increasing ferritin concentrations. Both modified or oxidized LDL and elevated LDL concentration are regarded as risks for atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease, suggesting that higher body iron is important in this process.
