When is ferritin elevated?
Generally, one speaks of an increased ferritin if the ferritin value rises above the normal limits for the respective sex and age. The limits are usually somewhat higher in childhood than in adulthood, and men have a significantly higher ferritin limit than women. Limit values:
- Infants and newborns within the first six months of life: 200 ng/ml
- Children between six months and sixteen years: 150 ng/ml
- Adulthood: Women 160 ng/ml, Men >270 ng/ml
Reasons for elevated ferritin
The reasons for an increased ferritin value are very diverse. Depending on the underlying disease, elevated ferritin levels can be harmless or very dangerous. A harmless cause of elevated ferritin is an inflammation in the body.
In this case, ferritin increases as a so-called acute phase protein together with other inflammation levels in the body. Therefore, infections such as colds or the flu can quickly lead to increased ferritin. Autoimmune diseases are also associated with inflammation in the body, so that they can cause the ferritin level to rise.
Occasionally, malnutrition also leads to an increase in ferritin. If the red blood cells (erythrocytes) are damaged, a large amount of iron can be released within a short time. In order to bind this iron, the body produces additional ferritin and thus increases the ferritin level.
Occasionally, elevated ferritin also occurs in the course of overtherapy with iron. Causes of elevated ferritin that require more clarification are diseases of the liver. These can be iron storage diseases, but liver inflammation (hepatitis, cirrhosis) or liver tumors can also increase ferritin.
Damage to the liver cells causes the ferritin stored in them to be released into the blood, so that the measurable value in the blood increases. A disease associated with excessive iron absorption from the intestines is hemochromatosis. It leads to chronic iron overload and can cause severe organ damage.
An increase in the ferritin value can generally indicate a tumor. In liver tumors in particular, the ferritin level can shoot up. The liver cells store a lot of ferritin, so that if liver cells are damaged by the tumor, the ferritin can accumulate in the blood.
However, elevated ferritin can also be the first indication of other tumors. Many tumors trigger an unspecific inflammatory reaction in the body. In the course of the disease, the inflammatory parameters increase slightly, including acute phase proteins such as ferritin. If the ferritin level increases, the cause of the findings should therefore be clarified in order to detect potentially serious diseases at an early stage. Our next topic could also be of interest to you: Symptoms of liver cancer
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