Educational information only. At Precursor, blood testing is requested and reviewed by a clinician and considered alongside your history and other markers, not as a stand-alone diagnosis. Testing is performed in NATA-accredited laboratories to ISO 15189 standards.

What is ferritin?

Ferritin is the protein your body uses to store iron. Measuring it is the best single indicator of how much iron you have in reserve, rather than how much is circulating at a given moment. Think of ferritin as the level in your iron savings account.

Why it matters

Ferritin is the most useful marker for spotting iron deficiency, often before you become anaemic, and for tracking iron overload at the other extreme. Because iron affects energy, exercise capacity and cognition, ferritin is one of the more impactful nutrient markers to know.

What your results can mean

Lower than optimal

A low ferritin is the classic sign of depleted iron stores, and can cause fatigue and reduced exercise tolerance even before haemoglobin falls. It is a common and very treatable finding.

Higher than optimal

A high ferritin can reflect iron overload, but ferritin also rises with inflammation, so a raised value is interpreted alongside other markers rather than assumed to mean high iron.

Reference ranges in Australia

Ferritin is reported in micrograms per litre (µg/L), with reference ranges that differ between men and women. Note that optimal levels, particularly for symptoms like fatigue, can sit higher than the very bottom of the range. Read your result against your own report and with a clinician.

Test your iron with Precursor

Ferritin is most informative alongside the full iron studies. At Precursor it is measured as part of Full Advanced Bloods, a single clinician-reviewed blood draw covering your iron, full blood count, heart, metabolic, hormonal, kidney, liver, thyroid and nutrient markers together, giving you and your clinician a broad baseline to understand and track.