ferritin levels

[Molmo]

hi folks

Not a post about northern British pets.

My ferritin levels are raised slightly and Google is about as clear as mud. I am interested to find out if this is linked to my hypothyroidism or is more likely due to a slightly swollen knee or indeed neither. Liver function fbc and everything else normal.

I know you guys are a mine of information.

Molmo

[helvella Administrator]

Isolated (i.e. everything else unexceptional) elevated ferritin can be due to inflammation.

However, our assessment of elevated ferritin varies massively depending on age, sex, and where you are looking! The published reference intervals (ranges) vary so much you could be near or over top of the range according to one document, and have plenty of headroom in another.

My document (below) has one set - which were re-evaluated and changed after members here contacted the lab.

helvella - Iron Panel

A short article about explaining what is meant by "iron panel" in relation to blood tests including some reference interval (range) information.

Last updated 18/07/2024

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...

[Molmo in reply to helvella]

That’s interesting. At my age on those data I’m very normal.

[RedApple Administrator]

I seem to recall that if you are post menopausal, it's quite common to have over range ferritin and docs don't worry about it. Some people have a genetic pre-disposition to iron-overload too.

[Tina_Maria]

As helvella has stated, high ferritin levels can be caused by inflammation. This could mean that although your ferritin levels would indicate a high iron load, it would not necessarily mean that you have high iron in your blood.

Inflammation can interfere with the production of red blood cells (erythrocytes), hence you can have low iron levels but your ferritin can still be high. Has your CRP been tested? C-reactive protein is a marker of inflammation, which would show if the raised ferritin is due to inflammation. If you have a swollen knee, this is a sign of inflammation and could have impacted your ferritin levels. For a clearer picture, you could do a complete iron panel and also measure your CRP. Acute and chronic infections, chronic inflammatory disorders and autoimmune disorders can all lead to raised ferritin levels.

I have included an article from the British Society of Haematology, which lists the various causes for raised ferritin.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...