Cold and Ferritin Level

Hello all,

My daugther had a ferritin level of 1500g/dl tested in December 2005, our last visit to hospital in March 2006 and subsequent meeting with doctor; we were told the ferritin level was high in Dec 05 and a comment from hematologist came as "She must had a cold on the day we tested for Ferritin". Is there a relation between ferritin level and cold anyone know of.

Regards

Yes, there is actually a correlation.  If a person has a cold, or there is some kind of inflammation going on in the body, the ferritin can increase.  I don't know the mechanism of why this happens, but I know for a fact that it's possible. 

Ferritin is an acute phase reactant protein. That means the level can be altered by a number of factors including infection and inflammation resulting in temporary elevated levels. This is one more reason ferritin levels are not considered to be an accurate measure of iron overload in the body and the reason MRI's and biopsies are used for accurate measurements.

I was also told that it's not very accurate to measure iron load.  The result can also vary if the person is unwell and even stressed.

Thanks, This means we really can't rely on ferritin or biopsy either. Biopsy although more accurate measure of iron but still depends on the sample. Iron does not store evenly in liver, if a sample is withdrawn from high iron concentration area the results will show elevated iron levels and vice versa.

The only thing left to do is "JUST KEEP PUMPING DESFERAL".

Regards

There are very accurate tests for measuring liver and heart iron. These are MRI's and SQUID tests. Both are far superior to serum ferritin tests and biopsies and pose none of the danger of a biopsy, which normally is very safe, but in rare instances can cause random problems such as blood clots.

In our group we have members who represent an Australian company, Resonance Health, which offers the FerriScan imaging technology to hospitals that have compatible MRI machines, which includes most newer models. The technology is offered at no cost to hospitals, and the only costs involved are the MRI fees and the fee Resonance charges for each analysis of the scan. The scan is perhaps the most accurate measure of liver iron concentrations available.

FerriScan has regulatory clearance in Australia, Europe and the USA and is available as a commercial service.
For more information go to their website at http://www.resonancehealth.com/rh_ferriscan--Ferriscan
or contact Andrew at       andrewh@ferriscan.com or Melanie at       melanieb@ferriscan.com

Andrew was kind enough to sit in on our last group chat when we were still at MSN and provided answers to everyone's questions. I have seen scan results using FerriScan and they are quite impressive, showing exactly where and how large iron deposits are in the liver.

It is recommended that thal patients have routine MRI scans to determine the true concentration of iron in their livers. Blood serum ferritin tests do have their value and do give a relative idea of how much iron is in the blood but they don't tell you the condition in the organs. Knowing the iron levels in the liver is of far more use than serum ferritin levels.  Scans or biopsies are necessary for this. This is an essential part of comprehensive care plan for thalassemics.

Thanks for the info, I will be contacting the rep soon via email. The only problem I see my daughter is 2 years 9 months, I am guessing you have to be still during the scan which in our case is quite difficult.

Regards