I should probably mention, and it may even be relevant to this thread, that I have a quite high ferritin level (1016 - top of range is 400), and this can apparently "cause" insulin resistance (I am also T2 diabetic), I suppose it's possible it could also affect my cells ability to absorb other things as well. High ferritin levels are an inflammation marker, oddly my hsCRP (another inflammation marker) is not elevated (at 3.4, top of range is 5.0)
This is something to be very concerned about. A ferritin level over 400 should be investigated.
When mine hit 605, my doctors sent me for a CT scan and tested a bunch of cancer markers to see if my cancer was back. Fortunately, it wasn't.
Then they thought it was my viral and bacterial infections sitting in my liver, which was difficult to test for, so they treated the infections.
However, I also noticed on my 23and me results that I had one SNP for two different HFE genes, giving me a milder version of heriditary hemochromatosis, the most common genetic defect in the US. It hadn't been a factor before my hysterectomy, but without monthly bleeding, iron built up. People with 2 copies of the main hemachromatosis gene notice it much earlier and its worse in men.
A hematologist warned that I was at risk for multiple organ failure if I didn't get it treated, and he said that it alone could be causing much of my fatigue.
Iron overload can lead to hemochromatosis without the presence of other disease factors. Lesser levels of iron overload, even in individuals whose ferritin and/or transferrin saturation levels range only toward the upper end of normal laboratory ranges, can result in free (or non-transferrin bound) iron that will catalyze the cycling of free radicals resulting in the tissue damage often associated with chronic diseases.
This iron-mediated disease process is associated with iron levels well below those observed in hemochromatosis and has been implicated in multiple metabolic disorders, the worsening of many disease conditions, and premature death and disability.
A summary of several iron overload affected diseases and conditions follows:
- Atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases
- Metabolic syndrome
- Cancer (multiple visceral types)
- Type 2 diabetes and related microvascular damage leading to end stage kidney disease
- Osteoporosis and osteopenia
- Hepatocellular cancinoma with or without cirrhosis of the liver
- Sarcopenia (muscle wasting)
- Hepatitis C virus
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
- Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases
The solution was to have 250ml of blood removed every 3-6 weeks until my iron level came down, and then maintenance phlebotomies every 3 months. My main doctors want me to keep my ferritin between 60 and 100 - they said mitochondria won't work properly if its below 60.
To look for this problem, you'd want to have an iron study done, consisting of TIBC, UIBC, serum iron and iron saturation, as well as serum ferritin. These are helpful resources:
http://www.irondisorders.org/
https://www.hemochromatosis.org/
