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Test Shows Low Iron SAT Levels. Ate Iron Rich Food, Low Levels Persist. Causes?
Good morning Doctor, My husband is 36 years old. He did his physical last month. Everything came back normal except for his Iron SAT level. His level came out to be 19 (average 20 to 50). The doctor asked him to eat iron rich food for few weeks and then do the test again. He did exactly that and did the test last week however his Iron SAT level came out to be 18. What can we take from these results?
Fri, 7 Dec 2012
dear ralative,
your husband is having low iron saturation in blood, which indicates 3 things
1. his dietary iron intake is not adequate which is most common but unlikely for your husband
2. he is having defective iron absorption from his stomach.
3. he is having some systemic disorder which is impairing his iron rserve.
to rule out these you have to wait atleas for 6 weeks on iron rich diet so as to improve iron SAT values in the blood. so wait till then if he is not having any other significant difficulties other than constipation which is likely to develop with iron rich diets(no need to panic).
after that do the following tests to confirm the diagnosis... serum FE , Iron SAT, blood Routine, peripheral smear, USG abdomen, serum creatinine.
note: if possible kindly post the entire blood profile of your husband i will go thru it and get back to you
thank you
your husband is having low iron saturation in blood, which indicates 3 things
1. his dietary iron intake is not adequate which is most common but unlikely for your husband
2. he is having defective iron absorption from his stomach.
3. he is having some systemic disorder which is impairing his iron rserve.
to rule out these you have to wait atleas for 6 weeks on iron rich diet so as to improve iron SAT values in the blood. so wait till then if he is not having any other significant difficulties other than constipation which is likely to develop with iron rich diets(no need to panic).
after that do the following tests to confirm the diagnosis... serum FE , Iron SAT, blood Routine, peripheral smear, USG abdomen, serum creatinine.
note: if possible kindly post the entire blood profile of your husband i will go thru it and get back to you
thank you
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