Ferritin-to-Iron Status Calculator

About this calculator

Serum ferritin reflects the body's stored iron, but interpreting a single number requires two adjustments: sex-specific reference ranges (women's normal ferritin is typically lower than men's due to menstrual iron losses), and a correction for inflammation, since ferritin is also an acute-phase reactant that rises during infection or inflammation independent of actual iron stores — which is why CRP (C-reactive protein) is checked alongside it.

Physicians use inflammation-adjusted ferritin thresholds (commonly, ferritin below roughly 15-30 ng/mL suggests depletion, while very high levels combined with elevated CRP point toward an inflammatory rather than iron-overload cause) to avoid two opposite mistakes: missing iron deficiency in a patient whose inflammation is masking a low result, or misdiagnosing iron overload in a patient whose high ferritin is actually just inflammation. It's a standard step in working up unexplained fatigue, anemia investigations, and chronic disease management.

This calculator takes your ferritin level, sex and CRP and returns an iron status category adjusted for inflammation.