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What Does My Blood Test Report Indicate?

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Posted on Tue, 16 Feb 2016
Question: I recently got a blood test result back from physical and everything was normal except my ferritin level was high at 620 ng/ml. What could be causing this or what could it indicate health wise? Should it be a cause for concern if everything else was normal?
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Answered by Dr. Ronald Schubert (25 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Elevated Ferritin levels

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for contacting HCM with your health care concerns

You recently had blood work and all was normal except for an elevated ferritin level. Ferritin is a measure of iron in your blood. With High ferritin levels it could be related to alcoholic cirrhosis or from hemochromatosis. If there is a family history of hemochromatosis then I would have your doctor look more closely at your ferritin levels over time. If the levels remain high then frequent donation of blood will reduce your iron stores and get the ferritin levels back to normal

After saying all the above the most likely cause of elevated ferritin level is a recent cold or flu. Any acute illness can bump the ferritin level up. So I would recommend recheck ferritin levels when you are well or in the next 2-3 months to see what your levels are doing.

IN summary
1. Elevated Ferritin levels
2. Acute reaction to cold flu or other acute illness
3. Alcoholic cirrhosis stop drinking
4. Hemochromatosis. high iron content in blood
5. Recheck Ferritin level in 2-3 months

I hope I answered your question. Please contact us again if you have any additional questions
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Ronald Schubert

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :1984

Answered : 2407 Questions

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What Does My Blood Test Report Indicate?

Brief Answer: Elevated Ferritin levels Detailed Answer: Thank you for contacting HCM with your health care concerns You recently had blood work and all was normal except for an elevated ferritin level. Ferritin is a measure of iron in your blood. With High ferritin levels it could be related to alcoholic cirrhosis or from hemochromatosis. If there is a family history of hemochromatosis then I would have your doctor look more closely at your ferritin levels over time. If the levels remain high then frequent donation of blood will reduce your iron stores and get the ferritin levels back to normal After saying all the above the most likely cause of elevated ferritin level is a recent cold or flu. Any acute illness can bump the ferritin level up. So I would recommend recheck ferritin levels when you are well or in the next 2-3 months to see what your levels are doing. IN summary 1. Elevated Ferritin levels 2. Acute reaction to cold flu or other acute illness 3. Alcoholic cirrhosis stop drinking 4. Hemochromatosis. high iron content in blood 5. Recheck Ferritin level in 2-3 months I hope I answered your question. Please contact us again if you have any additional questions