I read a study a few years back that found some women still had iron deficiency symptoms even as high as 60 on the ferritin test. Also was pointed out the “normal” scale for iron was devised the way most things were in the past—on healthy college age white males.
What is problematic about the ferritin test is it is treated like a yes/no rather than a continuum. Get 14 on the rest that where 10 is anemia and could be told it’s not iron deficiency.
The best advice is likely “if you have the symptoms of iron deficiency, treat it”.
It’s definitely one of the most prevalent health problems affecting women globally.
It really is horrific just how many women suffer needlessly from it, when a pill and a vitamin C can work wonders.
When people come to us (GPs/Family Physicians) with hair loss for example, the first thing a doctor would do would be to check their bloods, specifically looking for ferritin levels (and other things eg thyroid etc).
If the ferritin level is less than 60 then we would recommend increasing their iron intake.
Thinking about this logically, one could say that the usual lower threshold of normal iron(around 20, differss with age/sex and lab) Is too low if you can increased chances of hair loss at levels below 60, hence I recommend a goal of ferritin > 60.
I recommend that people purchase(in the UK) Ferrous Fumurate (has better bioavailabilty than ferrous sulphate), the more you take the better (upto 3 times a day; you may have GI side effects—abdo discomfort, diarrhoea/constipation/black faeces) and take with 200mg+ of Vitamin C (or fresh orange juice) which triples the absorption of iron, and don’t have tea/coffee/dairy one hour either side of taking it (which reduces absorption).
I read a study a few years back that found some women still had iron deficiency symptoms even as high as 60 on the ferritin test. Also was pointed out the “normal” scale for iron was devised the way most things were in the past—on healthy college age white males.
What is problematic about the ferritin test is it is treated like a yes/no rather than a continuum. Get 14 on the rest that where 10 is anemia and could be told it’s not iron deficiency.
The best advice is likely “if you have the symptoms of iron deficiency, treat it”.
It’s definitely one of the most prevalent health problems affecting women globally.
It really is horrific just how many women suffer needlessly from it, when a pill and a vitamin C can work wonders.
When people come to us (GPs/Family Physicians) with hair loss for example, the first thing a doctor would do would be to check their bloods, specifically looking for ferritin levels (and other things eg thyroid etc).
If the ferritin level is less than 60 then we would recommend increasing their iron intake.
Thinking about this logically, one could say that the usual lower threshold of normal iron(around 20, differss with age/sex and lab) Is too low if you can increased chances of hair loss at levels below 60, hence I recommend a goal of ferritin > 60.
I recommend that people purchase(in the UK) Ferrous Fumurate (has better bioavailabilty than ferrous sulphate), the more you take the better (upto 3 times a day; you may have GI side effects—abdo discomfort, diarrhoea/constipation/black faeces) and take with 200mg+ of Vitamin C (or fresh orange juice) which triples the absorption of iron, and don’t have tea/coffee/dairy one hour either side of taking it (which reduces absorption).