An iron saturation of 8%
8 %
Low — consistent with iron deficiency
Transferrin saturation of 8 % is below the level usually taken to indicate iron deficiency by commonly reported adult reference ranges
| Where it fallscommonly reported adult reference ranges | Low — consistent with iron deficiency |
|---|---|
| Transferrin saturation | 8% |
| Usual reference range | 20 – 50% |
| Low — consistent with iron deficiencythis reading | under 16% |
| Borderline low | 16 – 19% |
| Normal | 20 – 45% |
| Raised — iron overload screening threshold | 46 and above% |
Notes
- One reading is not a diagnosis. Transferrin saturation moves with iron intake and absorption, blood loss, inflammation, and the time of day the sample was taken. A clinician reads it against your history and usually against a repeat, not on its own.
- Reference ranges differ between laboratories. The bands above follow commonly reported adult reference ranges. Your own report prints the range its analyser was calibrated against, and that printed range is the one to compare against — a difference of a few units between labs is normal and does not mean either is wrong.
- Saturation and ferritin answer different questions, and both are needed. Ferritin measures the store; saturation measures how much iron is in transit right now. Ferritin rises with any inflammation, so it can look normal in genuine deficiency — saturation does not have that problem, which is why a low saturation with a normal ferritin is a recognised pattern of iron deficiency masked by inflammation.
- Above roughly 45–50% is the screening threshold for haemochromatosis, the inherited iron-overload condition. It is one of the more common genetic conditions in people of northern European ancestry, and it is treatable — which is why a persistently high saturation is followed up rather than dismissed.
- Iron in blood swings by the hour and by the meal. Levels are highest in the morning and rise after an iron tablet, so a sample taken shortly after a supplement can look falsely reassuring. Fasting morning draws, off supplements for a few days, are what the follow-up test uses.
What transferrin saturation of 8 % means
A result of 8 % falls in Low — consistent with iron deficiency by commonly reported adult reference ranges.
The usual reference range is 20 – 50 %.
Reading it next to the rest of the panel
Almost no blood test answers a question on its own. Each one narrows the field, and what narrows it further is the value sitting beside it on the same report — which is why a printout with one figure circled is harder to interpret than the whole page.
The bands here come from a named source rather than a rounded rule of thumb. A threshold is a decision point somebody argued for in print, and knowing which document a line comes from is what separates a meaningful result from a borderline one.
Nearby sizes
Read more
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- eGFR Normal Range: Above 90, and the Stages Below IteGFR is an estimate built from creatinine, age and sex — and the estimate is better than the raw creatinine it comes from, for a reason worth understanding.
- TSH Normal Range: 0.4–4.0 mIU/L, and the Number Moves BackwardsTSH runs opposite to the gland it measures. High TSH means the thyroid is underactive, and that inversion catches almost everyone reading their own result.
- Cholesterol Numbers: What Total, LDL, HDL and Triglycerides MeanA lipid panel reports four numbers and the one printed largest — total cholesterol — is the least useful of them.