About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffA ferritin test measures the amount of ferritin in your blood. Ferritin is a blood cell protein that contains iron. A ferritin test helps your doctor understand how much iron your body is storing.
If a ferritin test reveals that your blood ferritin level is lower than normal, it indicates your body's iron stores are low and you have iron deficiency.
If a ferritin test shows higher than normal levels, it could indicate that you have a condition that causes your body to store too much iron. It could also point to liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis, other inflammatory conditions or hyperthyroidism. Some types of cancer also may cause your blood ferritin level to be high.
- Ferritin. In: Nicoll D, et al. Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests. 5th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/pocketDiagnostic.aspx. Accessed Jan. 5, 2011.
- Ferritin. Lab Tests Online. http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ferritin/glance.html. Accessed Jan. 5, 2011.
- Gomella LG, et al. Laboratory diagnosis: Chemistry, immunology, serology. In: Gomella LG, et al. Clinician's Pocket Reference. 11th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=93. Accessed Jan. 5, 2011.
- Laboratory reference values. Ferritin. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; Dec. 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on