Hello
My husband has been on watch and wait for 12 years. Due to a constant chronic cough he recently had a blood test which showed low vitamin D levels of 45 and high serum ferritin levels of 936. He has been referred back to haematology but in the meantime just wondering if anyone can tell me if there is a link between these two readings. Is the high serum ferritin a sign of leukaemia as I have read it may be?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
I don’t know about that but I do know some oncologist like D up around 70 or 80 also you did not mention your iron level. I have heard that there should be a ratio between ferritin and iron but I don’t know what that ratio is.
Best always
Thanks Toothdoctor
Yes it makes sense… his serum ferritin levels are 936 which is obviously very high.
Apologies just realised I’ve repeated myself. Will check what his iron levels are. Thank you.
no problem I don’t remember hearing the ratio if that is even something to be concerned about I do know that with high levels to cut down on iron rich foods never take vitamins with iron in them and no vitamin C with iron rich foods. I heard calcium can serve somewhat to help block the absorption of iron Meat is high in iron as are greens. Calcium taken with those foods especially may help a clinical dietitian may know best!
Alcoholics, diabetics, cardiovascular health patients, liver and kidney disease patients are at risk for hemochromatosis as well as those taking iron supplements and high dose vitamin C supplements.
My husband has none of those problems and does not take iron or vit c supplements
I don't know whether there is a direct correlation between these two things but they might have a common underlying cause. Vitamin D deficiency is a lifestyle and dietary problem. Some of the conditions that I mentioned are lifestyle and diet related as well. Remember that vitamin D is a hormone. It is produced in the skin from cholesterol under the effect of sunlight. Insufficient Sun exposure coupled with low cholesterol=low vitamin D.
He has had melanoma in the past so tries to stay out of the sun or at least Smithers himself with sunscreen. I think in future he needs to soak it up with no screen for the first 20 minutes
My husband has high ferritin levels post treatment as well. This is because his bone marrow is not working properly due to his CLL, even though he is in remission(he started treatment with 100% infiltration).
From what we were told, high ferritin can indicate that a person has leukaemia, not necessarily that their leukaemia is life threatening, as CLL is chronic. My husband takes vitamin D with calcium and vitamin K daily because it is also chronically low, even though he's in his 30s.
Those readings could be of no consequence but they may want to investigate further if his other counts are abnormal.
Thank you Blue-bird
So sorry to hear about your husband who is so young to have this.
. It seems all so complicated to me …
I may have joined the wrong group as my husband hasn’t actually been officially diagnosed and not so far had treatment but I think there are alot of similarities.
12 years ago it was suspected that he had MDS which would ‘turn into Leukemia within 3 years’ We were told this by his consultant before the definitive results came back from Guys. The diagnosis was revised to Hypocellular bone marrow with dyserythropoiesis. He often looks very pale and gets bone tired but keeps going! He was put on watch and wait and his 6 monthly blood results were so stable he was put back into the care of his GP. Big mistake given what’s been going on with surgeries! 12 years later his blood condition is described as hypoplastic dyserythropoiesis with normal cytogenetic 🤷♀️
It seems he has had this low vitamin D level and high ferritin reading for some time but it has not been flagged up and only now because we gained access to his records on the NHS app.
So I am very concerned on several counts! He has recently been diagnosed with Bronchiectasis and has had a cough since November. Obviously not fighting off infections now and I’m hoping it’s because his Vit D is so low and not due to advancement of his blood condition.
How is your husband on a daily basis and what is the treatment he has to have?
A high ferritin is an inflammatory marker. The cause of the inflammation can be a number of things. It may or may not be leukemia related.
mayoclinic.org/tests-proced...
bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h36...
There appears to be an association of low Vitamin D and higher ferritin, but more studies need to be done. I'm not finding a designated "ratio" between the two so much as I am finding the statement "levels around 80 nmol/L" for the Vitamin D
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
I do recall reading that many oncologists prefer patients have levels between 60-80 ng/ml but I can't recall the source. I know I looked for it a while back, so I am guessing it was a video interview with an oncologist, not a publication? And these levels are getting into the "too high" region. I try to keep mine around 60 ng/ml, borderline.
You haven't said what unit of measurement that Vit D number is. Labs can use nmol/L or ng/ml, and the recommended values are different depending on the unit used. 40 nmol/L is a moderate deficiency.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Also verify the correct test was done. I've had docs erroneously test for 1,25-dihydroxy (used in kidney function management) when what is wanted is 25-hydroxy. A number of electronic lab order systems have a pull down menu under the "Vit D" test subgroup, and the incorrect test can inadvertently get ordered.
Here's a conversion chart for those of us getting tested in ng/ml:
Vitamin D (D3) - UK
Vitamin D strengths - beware
Sun phobia behind Vitamin D deficiency
high lymphocytes and low neutrophils
