Worth genetic testing?
I'm a 37yo woman who used function health with no specific goals in mind - just wanted a bunch of data to establish a baseline as I've been focused on improving my overall health recently. However, I was surprised to see my ferritin and saturation levels come back abnormal:
Ferritin
Result: 311 ng/mL - Lab Reference Range: 16–154 ng/mL
Iron % Saturation (Transferrin Saturation)
Result: 62% - Lab Reference Range: 16–45%
Serum Iron
Result: 161 mcg/dl - Lab Reference Range: 40–190 mcg/dL
Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
Result: 259 mcg/dL - Lab Reference Range: 250–450 mcg/dL
Is the next step genetic testing? I'm asking because researching this, it seems like a lot of people who have HH have ferritin values in the thousands. I'm just not sure if this is a borderline thing/false flag.
Other info worth noting:
I'm an American with northern European (Irish/English) ancestry.
No recent infections. My CRP was 1.3. However, in the last year I've gotten way more viral infections than is usual for me - In the last 14 months or so I got sick three times due to travel. I hadn't been sick in years prior to that despite a similar amount of travel.
I've had an IUD placed continuously for about 20 years at this point, and while I still get a period, it's a negligible amount of blood.
I do experience some diffuse symptoms that could be related to iron overload, but nothing severe. I had no idea what HH was before this blood test.
My liver values are all in the normal-ideal range. My family does have a history of liver issues, but AFAIK nobody has been diagnosed with HH.
Just curious if anyone in a similar bucket got a diagnosis of HH before I bring this to my PCP.