Functional iron deficiency (moderately low iron reserves in ferritin with normal hemoglobin) can be corrected with oral iron (pills) when the cause is insufficient daily intake of iron from the diet. Iron pills, even low-dose pills will replenish stores very soon, generally within 3-4 weeks.
If you're wondering how to increase ferritin levels, haem iron is a sure-shot way to do it. Incorporating meat into at least one meal a day has shown rising ferritin levels in several people. Chicken breast, tuna, and low-fat beef are good examples of lean meat.
Oral iron therapy is often required for at least 3 to 6 months to replete iron stores and normalize ferritin levels, although more time may be required depending upon the severity of IDA and ongoing losses.
– It usually takes 2 to 3 weeks of taking regular iron supplements before your symptoms start to improve. – You may need to keep taking iron for several months to build up your iron reserves and keep your anemia from returning.
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.
Causes of low ferritin levels
A lower-than-normal ferritin level can indicate that you have an iron deficiency, which can happen when you don't consume enough iron in your daily diet. Another condition that affects iron levels is anemia, which is when you don't have enough red blood cells for iron to attach to.
If ferritin is low, you can give it a boost by eating good sources of iron along with foods that increase iron absorption. Iron supplements also help prevent or treat low ferritin, but consult your health care provider before taking supplements to check your ferritin level and determine the right dose.
Serum ferritin is typically less than 10 ng/mL in severe iron deficiency associated with 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.
Low ferritin levels may signal that you have an iron deficiency, often resulting from an inadequate dietary intake of iron. This is especially true if you're vegetarian or vegan. Aside from this, other causes of low ferritin levels include: Excessive menstrual bleeding.
There are several reasons why your body may not absorb iron, including: You have an intestinal or digestive condition like celiac disease, autoimmune gastritis, or inflammatory bowel disease like ulcerative colitis, or Crohn's disease. You have a Helicobacter pylori infection of your stomach.
Avoid milk, calcium, high fiber food and caffeine. If patients are having difficulties raising their ferritin levels, I may advise them to avoid milk, calcium, high fiber foods and caffeine containing beverages. These can impair iron absorption.
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.
Many laboratories consider serum ferritin levels greater than 200 ng/mL in women and greater than 300 ng/mL in men to be abnormal.
Patients with repeatedly low ferritin will benefit from intermittent oral substitution to preserve iron stores and from long term follow-up, with the basic blood tests repeated every 6 or 12 months to monitor iron stores.
A serum ferritin of less than 30 microgram/L is diagnostic of iron deficiency and should prompt investigation for an underlying cause (see Fig.) and appropriate treatment. Transferrin is a protein that transports iron and reflects total iron-binding capacity.
Brain iron deficiency is associated with disruption of neurophysiological mechanisms that, within a social context that does not provide regular stimuli, compromises motor and cognitive development (e.g., impaired motor sequencing and bi-manual coordination, poor executive function, attention, and memory).
Iron deficiency is diagnosed when ferritin is <30μg/L in adults and < 20μg/L in children.
Iron-deficient people experience low energy levels and sudden weight gain because of an underactive thyroid gland.
In this disease, iron deficiency-related changes could also be observed in response to pain at the central nervous system level. FMS patients with iron deficiency in the present study had higher depression and anxiety levels and poor sleep quality, although the differences were not significant.
A doctor may recommend iron supplements to increase ferritin levels. People can take oral iron supplements at home. However, they should only use them under the supervision of a doctor. In severe cases of anemia, they may require treatment with intravenous iron.
Lower than normal results
In early stages of iron deficiency anemia, your body may have a low amount of ferritin but a normal amount of iron in the blood and will still be able to make healthy red blood cells. You may have few or no symptoms of anemia at this point.
Iron supplementation should be considered for women with unexplained fatigue who have ferritin levels below 50 μg/L.