How to diagnose Anemia of Inflammation and Chronic Disease ?
To diagnose AI/ACD, a health care provider orders a blood test called a complete blood count (CBC). A blood test involves drawing a persons blood at a health care providers office or commercial facility and sending the sample to a lab for analysis. The CBC includes a measurement of a persons hematocrit, the percentage of the blood that consists of red blood cells. The CBC also measures the amount of hemoglobin in the blood and can show whether a person has a lower than normal number of red blood cells.
                
In addition to measuring hematocrit and hemoglobin, the CBC includes two other measurements to show whether a person has enough iron:
                
- The ferritin level indicates the amount of iron stored in the body. A ferritin score below 200 nanograms per liter is a sign that a person may have an iron deficiency.  - The transferrin saturation (TSAT) is a score that indicates how much iron is available, or circulating, to make red blood cells. A TSAT score below 20 percent is another sign of iron deficiency.3
                
A CBC result that shows low iron levels in the blood yet normal measures of iron stores in the body is a hallmark of AI/ACD.