Iron explained

Serum iron is the iron in transit in your bloodstream at the moment of the sample. A different measurement from ferritin, which is the stored reserve. Serum iron swings through the day and with recent meals, which is why iron deficiency is diagnosed on ferritin and the wider picture rather than on this number alone. Poor on its own: It swings widely through the day and jumps after an iron tablet or an iron-rich meal. It is meaningful only in combination.

Fasting: Not needed. Best time: Morning — iron is naturally higher then, so timing changes the number. Avoid beforehand: Iron supplements for 24 hours; An iron-rich meal beforehand.

Commonly: iron tablets or a multivitamin in the previous day; the time of day the sample was taken; a recent iron-rich meal; inflammation, which lowers circulating iron; menstrual loss and pregnancy. A single result is not a diagnosis. Values are read against the laboratory's own reference range and alongside your history, your symptoms and the rest of the panel — which is why every package includes a doctor to go through them with you.

At Smart Care Polyclinic, 29 Doha Centre, Al Maktoum Rd, Deira, Dubai. It is included in the Smart Extra Health, the Fatigue Panel, the Hair Loss Panel, the Well Woman Panel, or it can be ordered on its own. Walk in during opening hours or call +971 (0)4 379 3562.