My Iron Level Is 194 And Ferritin Is 179. Should I Be Worried?

Posted on Fri, 27 Jul 2012

Question: my toal iron level was 194, is this good or bad my ferritin was 179 though. should i be alarmed or is this okay?

Answered by Dr. Rakesh Madhyastha (2 hours later)

Hello

Thanks for the query

Normal serum iron is 60-170 and normal ferritin is upto 200. That means you have marginally high serum iron. Increased serum iron is most commonly seen in Vit B12 deficiency in the general population but there are other causes too like haemolysis, haemosiderosis, etc but in these conditions serum iron would be much more than 194.

You will have to do further tests like a complete blood count, peripheral smear, total iron binding capacity, vit b12 and folic acid levels to know the cause of increased serum iron. Please XXXXXXX a haematologist/internist with the above reports

I hope I have answered your query, if you have no further ones please accept my answer

I wish you good health

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Rakesh Madhyastha (16 hours later)

does this mean it has done liver damage or do levels have to be higher to cause damage?

Answered by Dr. Rakesh Madhyastha (8 hours later)

Hello

Liver damage should be checked based on either liver function test or an ultra sound scan. It is not possible to assess the liver damage through iron studies.
At these levels liver damage is seldom seen. But as I have mentioned in my earlier post you need further work up. Please XXXXXXX a hematologist/internist as soon as possible

Thank you

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar