Need Some Help On Finding Out My Iron Levels

[Steve123]

Been eating quite a lot of red meat over the last 7-9 months (Which is not peaty i know), So going to request some iron blood tests on the NHS tomorrow, From what i've researched it seems as though the three to have are: Transferrin saturation, serum ferritin, and maybe Soluble Transferrin Receptor..
Are these 2 or 3 the best things to indicate For excess iron or Haemochromatosis, Will the one blood test give me a certain answer?

I've been thinking also of giving blood, is there any negatives to doing it? (In future i am also going to consume coffee with red meat and eat calcium foods with it)..

lso, is it worth getting any other tests while i'm there? Calcium maybe?

 

[dbh25]

An iron panel usually has TIBC, iron, ferritin and % saturation.
You can go too low with blood donation. So check iron before you donate.

 

[Mito]

Been eating quite a lot of red meat over the last 7-9 months (Which is not peaty i know), So going to request some iron blood tests on the NHS tomorrow, From what i've researched it seems as though the three to have are: Transferrin saturation, serum ferritin, and maybe Soluble Transferrin Receptor..
Are these 2 or 3 the best things to indicate For excess iron or Haemochromatosis, Will the one blood test give me a certain answer?

I've been thinking also of giving blood, is there any negatives to doing it? (In future i am also going to consume coffee with red meat and eat calcium foods with it)..

lso, is it worth getting any other tests while i'm there? Calcium maybe?

https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/2017/01/27/need-manage-iron-status/

 

[Steve123]

I rung Docs about having iron test here in the Uk. He’s adamant to only test me on ferritin levels only, will this accurately show if I’m accumulating to much iron or have hemochrombtosis?
I know there are other important iron tests to have like transferrin saturation,
What is critical?
I am thinking about just writing in the Transferrin Saturation test on the sheet myself, is this what it would be called in the Uk on nhs? Should I write in any other one?

 

[Mito]

“The most important markers for iron status are a complete blood count and a full iron panel. Ferritin is complicated to interpret and should not be even measured in my opinion outside the context of a full panel. Certainly in someone with any possible predisposition to anemia, it should also be paired with a complete blood count. On the complete blood count you want to make especially sure that hemoglobin, red blood cell size and the distribution of the red blood cell sizes are normal. On the full iron panel you want your transferrin saturation to be between 30% and 40%, probably your ferritin between 60 and 150 in American units. It’s double in Canada. I’m not sure what they are in Europe. But ferritin is harder to interpret because it’s affected by oxidative stress and inflammation in addition to iron status. And high CRP could be raising ferritin and contributing to anemia by shifting iron away from its proper roles and into storage in ferritin. Although it’s harder to test for oxidative stress than to just test CRP for inflammation, oxidative stress must also be considered. And when considering oxidative stress, you have to consider the possibility that supplements designed to protect against oxidative stress like sulforaphane and milk thistle and green tea extract and resveratrol could actually be upregulating ferritin, which again complicates the interpretation of ferritin and can even make you anemic if you don’t have enough iron to be storing all that ferritin without taking it away from hemoglobin synthesis.”
https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/2017/01/27/need-manage-iron-status/

 

[raypeatclips]

Iron Deficiency Blood Test | Medichecks.com

If you can afford it, you can do these tests at home and have more control over what gets tested. I can't imagine doctors would test you just because you've been eating a lot of red meat, unless you had symptoms pointing towards excess iron issues

 

[Steve123]

Yeah your r

Iron Deficiency Blood Test | Medichecks.com

If you can afford it, you can do these tests at home and have more control over what gets tested. I can't imagine doctors would test you just because you've been eating a lot of red meat, unless you had symptoms pointing towards excess iron issues

yeah your right, the only reason their testing me is because o said there’s hemochromtosis in the family, (which there isn’t)..

 

[Steve123]

“The most important markers for iron status are a complete blood count and a full iron panel. Ferritin is complicated to interpret and should not be even measured in my opinion outside the context of a full panel. Certainly in someone with any possible predisposition to anemia, it should also be paired with a complete blood count. On the complete blood count you want to make especially sure that hemoglobin, red blood cell size and the distribution of the red blood cell sizes are normal. On the full iron panel you want your transferrin saturation to be between 30% and 40%, probably your ferritin between 60 and 150 in American units. It’s double in Canada. I’m not sure what they are in Europe. But ferritin is harder to interpret because it’s affected by oxidative stress and inflammation in addition to iron status. And high CRP could be raising ferritin and contributing to anemia by shifting iron away from its proper roles and into storage in ferritin. Although it’s harder to test for oxidative stress than to just test CRP for inflammation, oxidative stress must also be considered. And when considering oxidative stress, you have to consider the possibility that supplements designed to protect against oxidative stress like sulforaphane and milk thistle and green tea extract and resveratrol could actually be upregulating ferritin, which again complicates the interpretation of ferritin and can even make you anemic if you don’t have enough iron to be storing all that ferritin without taking it away from hemoglobin synthesis.”
https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/2017/01/27/need-manage-iron-status/

Thanks for bringing this up !

 

[Steve123]

“The most important markers for iron status are a complete blood count and a full iron panel. Ferritin is complicated to interpret and should not be even measured in my opinion outside the context of a full panel. Certainly in someone with any possible predisposition to anemia, it should also be paired with a complete blood count. On the complete blood count you want to make especially sure that hemoglobin, red blood cell size and the distribution of the red blood cell sizes are normal. On the full iron panel you want your transferrin saturation to be between 30% and 40%, probably your ferritin between 60 and 150 in American units. It’s double in Canada. I’m not sure what they are in Europe. But ferritin is harder to interpret because it’s affected by oxidative stress and inflammation in addition to iron status. And high CRP could be raising ferritin and contributing to anemia by shifting iron away from its proper roles and into storage in ferritin. Although it’s harder to test for oxidative stress than to just test CRP for inflammation, oxidative stress must also be considered. And when considering oxidative stress, you have to consider the possibility that supplements designed to protect against oxidative stress like sulforaphane and milk thistle and green tea extract and resveratrol could actually be upregulating ferritin, which again complicates the interpretation of ferritin and can even make you anemic if you don’t have enough iron to be storing all that ferritin without taking it away from hemoglobin synthesis.”
https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/2017/01/27/need-manage-iron-status/

So what are the others to get? Transferrin saturation and what ?

 

[Mito]

So what are the others to get? Transferrin saturation and what ?

Specifically for hemochromatosis probably % saturation and ferritin. The % saturation may be called transferrin saturation or it may be called iron saturation.

 

[Steve123]

Specifically for hemochromatosis probably % saturation and ferritin. The % saturation may be called transferrin saturation or it may be called iron saturation.

Oh really? And that’s all? One blood test will discover hemochromatosis? That’s great, my doc has already got me a sheet with ferritin written down, i’ve Just got to write in transferrin saturation !

 

[dbh25]

Iron Panel | Blood Test | Life Extension
This panel contains the following tests:

• Iron, Serum
• Iron Saturation
• Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
• Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity (UIBC)
• Ferritin

 

[Steve123]

Iron Panel | Blood Test | Life Extension
This panel contains the following tests:

• Iron, Serum
• Iron Saturation
• Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
• Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity (UIBC)
• Ferritin

Oh right, I don’t think i’ll Be able to do all of them, doc was stubborn to just give ferritin, I could probably squeeze the saturation on the piece of paper but anymore I think is pushing it.. do you think just the ferritin and saturation is okay for now?

 

[dbh25]

I was giving an example of the tests in an iron panel.
You should get any you can.

 

[Steve123]

Just grabbed the form from the Docs now and he’s actually wrote ‘Iron Studies’ as well as ‘Ferritin’ ..

What does ‘Iron Studies’ consist of? In the Uk btw, wales specifically ..

 

[Steve123]

@dbh25 @Mito @raypeatclips Do you guys have any idea what "iron Studies" Consists of i've got Ferritin written down on the piece of paper from the docs as well?

 

[dbh25]

No idea. I order labs online in the US, and it lists them out,

• Iron, Serum
• Iron Saturation
• Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
• Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity (UIBC)
• Ferritin

 

[Steve123]

No idea. I order labs online in the US, and it lists them out,

• Iron, Serum
• Iron Saturation
• Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
• Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity (UIBC)
• Ferritin

I hope Iron Studies just means Iron panel or something, never heard of it and cant find much info online..

 

[Mito]

Oh really? And that’s all? One blood test will discover hemochromatosis? That’s great, my doc has already got me a sheet with ferritin written down, i’ve Just got to write in transferrin saturation !

The two key tests to detect iron overload are:

• Serum transferrin saturation. This test measures the amount of iron bound to a protein (transferrin) that carries iron in your blood. Transferrin saturation values greater than 45 percent are considered too high.
• Serum ferritin. This test measures the amount of iron stored in your liver. If the results of your serum transferrin saturation test are higher than normal, your doctor will check your serum ferritin.

Because a number of other conditions can also cause elevated ferritin, both blood tests are typically abnormal among people with this disorder and are best performed after you have been fasting. Elevations in one or all of these blood tests for iron can be found in other disorders. You may need to have the tests repeated for the most accurate results.

People with abnormal iron tests should undergo genetic testing to confirm the diagnosis. Most people will have two gene mutations.

Hemochromatosis - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic

 

[dbh25]

@Mito, are you familiar with Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity (UIBC)?
This one is included with my latest iron panel.