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21. The Most Important Lab Test Women Aren’t Getting

Episode Summary

Millions of women are walking around tired, with their hair falling out, depressed and struggling with brain fog because most doctors don’t order the most important lab test to diagnose a common underlying cause of all these symptoms. And even if your doctor does order it, they typically don’t understand how to interpret the results. Make sure you do so you can get the care you deserve and feel your best.

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Key Takeaways To Tune In For

  • [00:10] CBC is a routine Blood test to screen for anemia but it’s not the most important test
  • [00:30] More than 30% of the world’s population has anemia
  • [01:09] Iron deficiency anemia is the most common
  • [02:00] Two important indicators to understand in this test are hemoglobin and red blood cells
  • [04:25] Getting a blood panel test done can also provide information about iron statues
  • [04:53] Ferritin is the storage form of iron in the body
  • [05:10] The Serum ferritin test is the most sensitive indicator for iron status
  • [06:55] Most data used to create standard laboratory reference ranges for serum ferritin are from studies conducted 30 years ago
  • [07:58] Iron supplementation should begin long before a person’s serum ferritin drops below 12
  • [08:50] If you have a chronic inflammatory disease your levels of ferritin might be elevated despite you having declining iron
  • [10:45] Talking to your doctor about what is the optimal serum ferritin range is crucial to starting iron supplementation when it is appropriate
  • [11:57] Serum ferritin test should be retested every 3 months
  • [13:15] Most multivitamins have a very low form of iron and are hard to absorb
  • [13:45] What to do if your doctor won’t run the rest for you
  • [15:00] The serum ferritin test is the most important test women aren’t getting

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