What is ferritin

There are many elements in the human body, especially in the human blood, where different elements are organized together. Therefore, when these elements are lacking, it will cause human diseases. Therefore, when some problems arise, people must seek timely treatment, which will be of great help to the development of the body. So what is ferritin? Many people don’t know much about this issue.

Many people are not very clear about what ferritin is, so they don’t know how to supplement or reduce it. The following is a detailed introduction to ferritin so that we can have a better understanding of it.

What is Ferritin?

Ferritin is a soluble tissue protein that stores iron in the body. Normal human serum contains a small amount of ferritin, but different detection methods have different normal values. The normal average is about 80-130ug/L (80-130ng/ml) for men and about 35-55ug/L (35-55ng/ml) for women. Although serum ferritin is non-specific, except for moderate increases in liver cancer and pancreatic cancer, other digestive tract tumors such as esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer do not increase.

Causes of high ferritin

1. Liver diseases, such as liver necrosis, chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, liver tumors, etc., are all causes of high ferritin.

2. Excessive iron load, such as primary hemochromatosis, repeated blood transfusions, inappropriate iron therapy, etc., are also causes of high ferritin.

3. Sideroblastic anemia, aplastic anemia, megaloblastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, etc., these are all causes of high ferritin.

4. Cancers, such as liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, etc., are also causes of high ferritin levels. The main reasons why liver cancer causes high ferritin levels are: ① Liver cancer cells can synthesize and secrete ferritin or isoferritin. ②The uptake and clearance of ferritin by liver cancer tissue is affected. ③ Liver cell damage and necrosis are also the cause of high ferritin levels. The ferritin stored in the liver cell cytoplasm overflows into the blood, causing high ferritin levels.

5. Inflammation or infection, hyperthyroidism, etc. are all causes of high ferritin.

Through the above introduction, we have a good understanding of what ferritin is. Its existence is of great help to the human body in all aspects. When it is too high, it also means that there is a disease in the human body. So at this time, we must treat our own diseases in time to improve the high ferritin level.