What are the dangers of low ferritin?
- unexplained fatigue.
- dizziness.
- chronic headaches.
- unexplained weakness.
- ringing in your ears.
- irritability.
- leg pains.
- shortness of breath.
What foods to avoid if you have high ferritin levels?
- Fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of any healthful diet.
- Lean protein.
- Grains, beans, nuts, and seeds.
- Tea and coffee.
- Calcium-rich foods.
- Eggs.
What are the effects of very low ferritin?
What Are the Dangers of Low Ferritin?
- Low Oxygen Levels. When you have low ferritin levels, you will also have low iron levels. ...
- Anemia. The part of the red blood cell that includes oxygen and iron is called hemoglobin. ...
- Skeletal Muscle Fatigue. Much like hemoglobin, myoglobin relies on iron and ferritin for proper function. ...
- Irregular Heartbeat. ...
Why your ferritin is chronically low?
What causes chronically low ferritin? The most common causes of low iron/ferritin include: Heavy bleeding (as is seen with a heavy menstrual flow or with heavy cycles) Gastrointestinal malabsorption (This is a big cause and one we will discuss at length below) Chronic internal bleeding (usually seen with gastrointestinal bleeding like gastric ulcers, polyps, etc.)
What diseases cause low ferritin?
Summary of Diseases Associated With Lower FerritinAnemia [2]Fatigue [3]Hair loss [4, 5, 6, 7]Fibromyalgia [8]IBD [9]Hypothyroidism [10]Depression [11]Anxiety [12]More items...•
Why would ferritin be very low?
Iron deficiency anemia, meaning your body has inadequate red blood cells. This is the most likely reason for a low ferritin level result. Blood loss (usually from the gastrointestinal tract). That your body doesn't absorb iron from your diet properly.
What causes low ferritin levels without anemia?
Hypoferritinemia caused by decreased iron intake, as part of the general poor diet, or due to low gastrointestinal absorption that happens to postbariatric surgery. It also happens in Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and celiac disease, hemorrhoids, colon cancer, peptic ulcer, menorrhagia, and hematuria.
How serious is low ferritin?
A result of low ferritin is strong evidence of an iron deficiency. The body requires iron to make hemoglobin, which is a protein in red blood cells that transfers oxygen from the lungs around the body. Without enough iron, a person may develop anemia.
What cancers cause low ferritin levels?
In a study published in July 2013 in the Annals of Oncology, iron deficiency was most commonly seen in people with pancreatic cancer (present in 63 percent of participants), followed by colorectal cancer (52 percent) and lung cancer (51 percent).
When should I worry about ferritin levels?
Many laboratories consider serum ferritin levels greater than 200 ng/mL in women and greater than 300 ng/mL in men to be abnormal.
Is ferritin a tumor marker?
Ferritin: a tumor marker expressed by renal cell carcinoma.
How do you fix low ferritin?
Consuming iron-rich foods improves iron stores and ferritin levels. These include green leafy vegetables, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, oatmeal, cereals, wheat germ, beans and tofu, lamb and beef, nuts, pumpkin and squash seeds, liver and mollusks, among others.
Does low ferritin cause weight gain?
Iron deficiency won't cause you to pack on pounds, but it can affect your energy and stamina. As a result, you might find it difficult to stay active and stick to your workouts. If you have iron deficiency anemia, you may gain weight during treatment.
What does low ferritin feel like?
If your ferritin levels are too low, you may feel fatigued and run down. Fatigue can often be linked to inadequate iron in the blood. And since ferritin is a marker of long-term iron intake, it's perfect for determining whether that worn-down feeling can be linked to your diet.
How can I raise my ferritin levels quickly?
Foods contain two types of iron, heme and nonheme. When you want to boost ferritin quickly, the best choice is heme iron found in meat, poultry and fish because your body absorbs heme iron two to three times more efficiently than nonheme iron.
What is considered a dangerously low ferritin level symptoms?
Inflammation or soreness of your tongue. Brittle nails. Unusual cravings for non-nutritive substances, such as ice, dirt or starch. Poor appetite, especially in infants and children with iron deficiency anemia.
Why is ferritin low?
Why Is My Ferritin Low? Low ferritin level is a sign of iron deficiency. This happens when your body does not obtain a sufficient amount of iron. People who are suffering from anemia do not have enough red blood cells in their bodies. Iron attaches to red blood cells. If red blood cells are low, iron is also low.
What foods can help with ferritin?
If it is not effective, then you may be asked to take medications and even undergo surgery. Foods such as nuts, seeds, dried fruits, tofu, and broccoli are rich in iron. These can help increase your ferritin levels. Dr. Ahmed Zayed.
What to do if iron is not working?
If iron supplements are not effective, you may be asked to take medications such as oral contraceptives if the iron deficiency is due to bleeding. Your doctor may also prescribe antibiotics if the cause of iron deficiency is peptic ulcers. If this is due to a tumor, a fibroid, or a bleeding polyp, you may be asked to undergo surgery.
What foods help with iron absorption?
Dark-green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, seaweed, broccoli, parsley, asparagus, watercress, and kale are also rich in iron. Some foods and drinks containing tannins, vitamin C, and phytates are also good to increase iron absorption.
What happens if you don't have iron in your blood?
If your red blood cells lack iron, its purpose of transferring oxygen from the lungs to all parts of your body will be inhibited. Iron also affects your metabolism, hormone production, growth, and development.
Can low ferritin cause weight gain?
Can Low Ferritin Levels Cause Weight Gain? Low ferritin levels mean that you have an iron deficiency. Remember that your body needs iron so that you get enough oxygen. If you are deprived of it, chances are your energy level will also be decreased. You will become irritable, weak, tired, and unable to focus.
Is ferritin low dangerous?
It may also be a sign that you are suffering from an underlying condition, such as excessive menstrual bleeding and internal bleeding. Low ferritin levels are dangerous because they can make you experience various symptoms such as experiencing dizziness, unexplained fatigue, weakness, and chronic headaches.
What happens if you have low ferritin?
Home / General Health / Low Ferritin Causes. Lower than normal levels of ferritin can be the cause of constant headache and fatigue. This article provides information on low ferritin causes. Untreated low ferritin levels can lead to serious illnesses like anemia.
Why is ferritin low in children?
Causes of insufficient ferritin in children include iron deficiency anemia, diet lacking in iron, infections, thalassemia, vitamin B12 deficiency (due to strictly vegetarian diet), lead poisoning, cancer or other chronic diseases.
Why is vitamin C important for iron absorption?
Vitamin C promotes absorption of iron in the body. Pregnant and breastfeeding women, athletes (for example, distance runners and cyclists who require more oxygen), smokers, burn victims, those diagnosed with anemia or those who have recently undergone a surgery or chemotherapy should include more vitamin C (more than the recommended dietary allowance) in their diet. Without sufficient vitamin C in their diet, they may have to suffer from low iron. The ferritin levels may drop and may lead to health problems.
Why is iron deficiency so high?
The statistics released by WHO are really shocking. It is estimated that nearly 80% of the world’s population is anemic. Lack of balanced diet is one of the main reasons of iron deficiency. People need to include more ‘high iron foods’ in their diet. Animal food contains heme iron which is easy to digest while food obtained from plants contains nonheme iron which is hard to digest. Rice and other grains, legumes are good examples of iron rich foods. But phytic acid present in these foods reduces the iron absorption by as much as 50%. Vegetarianism is one of the main causes of low levels of ferritin in the body. The levels do not drop suddenly, they drop gradually.
Why do we need ferritin test?
A ferritin test is ordered to check iron levels in the body. In case of scarcity of iron, the body won’t be able to produce hemoglobin, the main component of red blood cells which helps them carry oxygen to cells/organs.
What foods are iron rich?
Rice and other grains, legumes are good examples of iron rich foods. But phytic acid present in these foods reduces the iron absorption by as much as 50%. Vegetarianism is one of the main causes of low levels of ferritin in the body. The levels do not drop suddenly, they drop gradually.
Why does my child lose blood through stool?
It is also noticed that excessive milk can cause your child to lose small amounts of blood through stool. Low ferritin is the main cause of anemia which may result in behavioral and learning problems, lack of concentration and other health problems. A ferritin test is ordered to check iron levels in the body.
Why is ferritin high?
Higher levels, on the other hand, may indicate that you have a condition that causes the body to store too much iron [ 2 ]. However, ferritin also plays a role in the immune response, and increases in conditions such as chronic inflammation, infections, and cancer, irrespective of iron levels [ 2 ]. Normal ferritin blood levels:
What is ferritin in the body?
Ferritin is an iron-storing protein. Its levels usually go up or down depending on how much iron is in the body. In this article, we will go over 9 conditions associated with low ferritin levels.
How many people have iron deficiency anemia?
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 30% of the population have iron deficiency anemia yet it remains an under-managed feature of many gastrointestinal conditions. Also, scientists estimate that one-third of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients suffer from recurrent anemia [ 9 ].
What are the symptoms of iron deficiency?
Iron deficiency anemia can manifest with [ 9 ]: 1 Fatigue 2 Headache 3 Dizziness 4 Shortness of breath 5 Elevated heart rate (tachycardia) 6 Irregular or absent menstrual periods in women 7 Impotence 8 Loss of libido
What is the genetic cause of neuroferritinopathy?
A rare genetic disease, neuroferritinopathy, is a result of mutations in the gene encoding a component of ferritin. These mutations impair ferritin assembly and lead to a loss of iron storage capacity within brain cells, which causes iron-mediated cell injury [ 1 ].
What is the role of iron in the body?
Iron has many important roles in our bodies. For example, it’s critical for making red blood cells and it’s needed for muscle and heart cells to produce energy [ 1 ]. Blood ferritin is an indirect indicator of the total amount of iron stored in the body. Low ferritin levels signal that the body’s iron stores are low.
Can anemia cause a negative iron balance?
The loss of iron duet to chronic intestinal bleeding in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may exceed the amount of iron that can be absorbed from the diet, resulting in a negative iron balance [ 9 ]. In fact, anemia is a common complication associated with inflammatory bowel disease ( IBD ).
Why is ferritin low?
One of the more common causes of low ferritin is related to gastrointestinal issues and malabsorption of iron.
What does low ferritin mean?
Ferritin is used as a marker of iron stores in the body and low ferritin levels generally indicate low iron stores. Low ferritin levels should be treated with liquid or iron capsules until ferritin levels rise into the 30-40 ng/mL range (this is considered the optimal range).
Why does ferritin cause weight gain?
Low levels of ferritin reduce thyroid hormone production because an enzyme in the thyroid is required to create thyroid hormone.
Why is iron important for hair growth?
And iron is responsible (and critical) to maintain energy levels, maintain thyroid function, promote proper hair growth and so much more. That means managing your ferritin level becomes very important, especially if you have any of these symptoms (we will go over a full list of symptoms below).
Why is ferritin important?
Diagnosing and treating low ferritin is important because it can actually reverse these symptoms and improve quality of life.
What are the symptoms of low iron?
Patients with low iron and low ferritin tend to present with 1 or more of the following symptoms: Extreme fatigue and/ or decreased energy levels (the loss of energy from low ferritin is usually constant and worse with exercise) Inability to exercise or decreased exercise capacity.
Does low iron affect mitochondria?
Low iron levels likely contribute to decreased energy production and efficiency in enzymatic processes. The decreased efficiency may manifest as the subjective sensation of low energy. In addition to this (and as already stated) ferritin is involved in thyroid metabolism. Thyroid hormone is also involved in proper mitochondrial energy production ...
Testing for Iron Deficiency
In testing for it, you don’t want to just check iron. You want your doctor to look at serum iron, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), percent saturation and ferritin. Ferritin is a storage protein that can reflect your body’s stores of iron. Iron level is just a brief view in your serum and ferritin reflects your body’s stores.
Causes of Low Iron
What are the most common causes of low iron? Decreased intake, increased blood loss due to menstruation in women, internal bleeding as in an ulcer, or decreased absorption. I also see gluten sensitivity and other food reactions with people who are iron deficient.
Iron Deficiency Treatment Needs More Than Just Iron
She also had leaky gut and other things as well, including multiple deficiencies, not just iron. So what are the solutions for that? Just taking iron on your own is not typically the best solution. You need to make sure you’re taking the right kind. I prefer iron glycinate.
Diet for Low Iron and Low Ferritin
On top of that, I will use the FreeDiet®, because most people I see who are iron deficient are also gluten sensitive, which contributes to malabsorption. I put our patients on the FreeDiet®, which is not only free of gluten but gluten, grains, sugar, yeast, dairy eggs, soy, legumes, nightshades, and processed foods.
What to do if ferritin is low?
What To Do About It. If your ferritin is low, you will need to supplement with iron for a few months to get your levels back up (but make sure you test your levels first; you don’t want to take iron if you don’t need it, as it can be a pro-oxidant in that case).
Why do we need iron?
This is because you have to have iron in order to make enough hemoglobin, which is the part of your red blood cells that binds and transports oxygen. There are several forms of anemia, but one of the most common is iron deficiency anemia. Too little iron leads to too little oxygen, which leads to exhaustion. But there are several steps in the iron ...
Why does the liver secrete hepcidin?
In response to the inflammation of intestinal permeability, the liver now secretes the antimicrobial hormone hepcidin, which reduces iron transport in the gut. Why does it do this? Because most microbes also require iron. Sequestering iron is one of your body’s strategies to cripple the enemy.
Does iron cause exhaustion?
Too little iron leads to too little oxygen, which leads to exhaustion. But there are several steps in the iron pathway before red blood cell count and size begins to decline, indicative of full-blown anemia. Ferritin, which is the storage form of iron, can be an early indication of a problem.
Does sequestering iron cause candida?
Sequestering iron is one of your body’s strategies to cripple the enemy. The problem is, if you do have long-term overgrowth of dysbiotic flora and/or candida, not only will those continue to trigger hepcidin, lowering your absorption of iron, but they will also snatch up the iron you do have for their own life cycles.
What happens if you have low ferritin levels?
If this deficiency continues, the ferritin stores will eventually be depleted, hemoglobin production will be reduced, and anemia (low blood levels) will result. Therefore, a ferritin level is the earliest indicator we have to detect a deficiency of iron. Signs and Symptoms of Low Ferritin.
What are the symptoms of low ferritin?
The most common symptoms of low ferritin include: Chronic fatigue or low energy.
What are the symptoms of iron deficiency?
A deficiency of it can cause many negative symptoms. These include fatigue, poor exercise tolerance, shortness of breath, and hair loss. Ferritin is an indicator of the amount of iron stored in the body.
Why does ferritin drop?
If iron levels begin dropping for whatever reason (we will discuss these shortly), the body releases ferritin into the blood in order to provide the iron that is lacking. Eventually, the ferritin levels may drop which is the first indication of iron deficiency. If this deficiency continues, the ferritin stores will eventually be depleted, ...
How to check iron levels?
When evaluating for the possibility of low iron or ferritin, I recommend getting the following tests: 1 CBC - Indicates hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, plus will show other indices that can indicate iron deficiency. 2 check#N#Total Serum Iron - Most labs list the normal range to be 60-170 mcg/dL. 3 Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) - Levels > 450mcg/dL typically indicate low iron levels, while < 240 mcg/dL indicate high levels of iron. 4 Ferritin - Every lab is slightly different, but the typical reference range is 15-150 ng/mL.
Why is ferritin not included in lab tests?
As a result, many patients may have symptoms of low iron, but they are not treated because it has not progressed to the point of causing anemia which would then show up on standard lab tests. A ferritin level is often not included in the initial labs tests of patients with the above symptoms.
What is the primary form of iron?
Ferritin is a protein that contains iron. It is the primary form of iron that is stored in cells. The level of ferritin in the blood is a reflection of how much iron storage is in the body. Iron is an essential element that the body needs in order to produce red blood cells. Red blood cells are what carry oxygen to the cells.
What are the conditions that cause ferritin levels to be higher than normal?
However, diagnosis of these conditions might require additional testing based on your symptoms and physical examination. Hemochromatosis. Porphyria — A group of disorders caused by an enzyme deficiency that affects your nervous system and skin.
Why do you need a ferritin test?
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 does it mean when your doctor says you have too much iron?
If your doctor suspects you have too much or too little iron in your body, he or she might suggest a ferritin test. The test can diagnose or suggest: Hemachromatosis — a condition that causes your body to absorb too much iron from the food you eat.
Can you eat before a ferritin test?
If your blood sample is being tested only for ferritin, you can eat and drink normally before the test. If your blood sample will be used for other tests, you might need to fast for a time before the test. Your doctor will instruct you.