What exactly is ferritin? You will find this name on blood results… with the reference values.
Why does it drop so quickly in athletes? How do you best complement this?
Answer
Dear Jim,
As you probably already thought, ferritin has to do with the body’s iron metabolism. Iron is an important component of the protein hemoglobin found in red blood cells. Oxygen (which you breathe in through the lungs) can bind to this hemoglobin, which can then be distributed throughout the body via the red blood cells. A lack of iron will therefore lead to anemia as the production of hemoglobin is compromised.
Iron itself is toxic and in the body will either be contained in that hemoglobin (more than 70% of the total iron content in the body) or bound to other proteins. Ferritin is nothing but a water-soluble compound made up of iron and a particular protein. This is the form in which the reserve iron is stored in the body (mainly in the bone marrow). To check the iron content, one measures, among other things, iron in the blood but also the ferritin. However, the iron content itself fluctuates quite strongly over the course of the day and is really just a snapshot. That is why the more stable ferritin in the blood is often measured because this corresponds better with the concentration of iron in the tissues.
Iron deficiency in intensive athletes can occur due to the breakdown of red blood cells in the blood vessels and/or due to small bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract during physical activity. This is especially the case with professional runners. With a healthy diet, this can usually be compensated by a temporarily increased iron absorption from the diet and no problems arise. When there is a clear anemia due to the iron deficiency, the intake of iron supplements is an easy method to correct this. However, additional research into any underlying diseases is always recommended. The preventive use of iron supplements in athletes without effective anemia is controversial and certainly not a commonly prescribed practice.
Regards,
Glenn Van den Bosch
Answered by
dr. Glenn Van den Bosch
Medicine: microbiology, blood diseases, immunology
Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerp
http://www.uantwerpen.be
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