@Joan_Block @HealthExperts @ThomasTu @john.tavis this is interesting 
what would be thoughts on this study.
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Hi Eddie,
To me, this shows that people with very severe liver disease (advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis) have worse ability to process iron and it builds up in the liver cells.
There seems to be quite a change in iron markers in the blood in HBV-positive patients. Whether this is harmful or not isn’t really answered by this study because it wasn’t set up to show cause and effect.
Thomas
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Also note that iron metabolism is very complex and can be affected by many other things, which raises confounding variables is such comparative studies. This is an interesting piece of work that may well reflect the overall damage occurring to the liver from HBV (the liver is a big player in iron metabolism). However, I personally would not place huge emphasis on it until it is replicated in a different patient cohort, just due to the complexities of such studies and of iron regulation in the body.
John.
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Hi @ThomasTu
I got elevated Ferritin up to 527 while ALT is 28. I am not sure what are the exact cause. I am trying to find the answer too. I did a lot of research online and most of them point the cause to Liver Disease.
I notice change in my skin become slightly bronze on leg, hand and even face. In the past few months these skin change is not stable. some days it seem worse while some days it became normal.
I am not sure how these elevated iron affect the liver in general. But surely it is not a good sign for HBV patient.
Hi @senhour,
Are you taking any supplements with iron in them? Do you feel that it is affecting your physical health? It is difficult to know exactly what the cause is, because many things can cause elevated ferritin. I would recommend you talk to your doctor to get an appropriate assessment and diagnosis.
As mentioned above, the link between iron and Hep B (if any) is not clear. You should not immediately worry about this.
Thomas
Hi @ThomasTu
I don’t take any iron supplements. I did talk to 3 doctor including my regular doctor. None of them recommend any treatment yet. They just advice not to consume food high in iron or take any supplement and continue to monitor.
My Ferritin was 723 ( Sep 2022 ) lower to 527 ( Jan 2023 )
My doctor also said ferritin is a little bit elevated but not in alarming stag.
My overall liver health is fine ALT is not elevated. I got a slight low in hemoglobin 12.3.
One thing I notice change in my body is skin. I see some change in my skin color and appearance ( thin skin on leg, hand and part face )
This sounds like a reasonable approach. It looks like the levels are coming down and may not need any further management. I don’t know what may be causing the skin colour changes.
TT
Dear Everyone,
After 6 months, I got another blood test. I still see my ferritin is elevated at 463 as of 01 June 2023.
I try to do much research on how to lower ferritin level to normal but i got no luck. Except, they recommend dietary change. Hope to see if anyone who got elevated ferritin and back to normal
thanks
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Dear @senhour,
This still looks like that it is trending downwards, so it may still come down to within normal range. My understanding is that increased ferritin levels are not in themselves harmful (they may just be indicators) and these levels can be affected by diet, supplements, or medications.
Thomas
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Phlebotomy (blood letting) is not recommended for this as far as I know, but I also had high ferritin (and severe fibrosis) and I felt a lot better even after the first session of half a liter, and each session after that. It may not be cause and effect regarding the iron, as in it could well have made me feel better for completely different reasons, so this isn’t medical advice… just putting my personal experience out there
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