Hemoglobin normal range: men, women, children and pregnancy

For adult women who are not pregnant, most labs report about 12 to 15.5 g/dL as normal. WHO calls a level below 12 g/dL anaemia. In pregnancy the cut-off is lower: below 11 g/dL in the first and third trimester, and below 10.5 g/dL in the second.

For adult men, most labs report about 13.5 to 17.5 g/dL as normal. WHO calls a level below 13 g/dL anaemia. Your report shows your own lab's range, which can differ slightly.

It is anaemia, and it needs a cause to be found, but it is usually not an emergency. WHO grades 8 to 10.9 g/dL as moderate anaemia in adults (10 to 10.9 is mild in pregnancy). Below 8 g/dL is severe and needs a doctor soon. Breathlessness at rest, chest pain or fainting need urgent care at any level.

If the cause is iron deficiency, iron tablets or an iron drip prescribed by a doctor raise haemoglobin by about 1 to 2 g/dL in 3 to 4 weeks. Food alone works more slowly but keeps levels up afterwards: eat meat, liver, chicken, fish or eggs, plus daal, chana and green leaves with lemon or a fruit, and keep chai away from meals. If the cause is not iron (for example B12 deficiency or thalassaemia trait), iron will not help.

Ferritin shows your iron stores. WHO uses a ferritin below 15 µg/L (below 12 µg/L in children under 5) as iron deficiency in healthy people. Infection or inflammation raises ferritin, so in those cases a ferritin below 70 µg/L in adults (30 in young children) can still mean low iron.

An iron profile usually includes serum iron, TIBC (total iron binding capacity), transferrin saturation and ferritin. In iron deficiency, ferritin and transferrin saturation are low (saturation below about 20 percent) and TIBC is high. Your doctor reads these together with the CBC.

Other causes include thalassaemia trait (common in Pakistan, often with a low MCV and a high red cell count), vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, kidney disease, long-term inflammation and blood loss that has just started. Taking iron without proven deficiency does not help and can harm, so ask about Hb electrophoresis or B12 and folate tests.

Common causes are smoking, dehydration, living at high altitude and some lung or heart conditions. Rarely it is a bone marrow condition called polycythaemia. A high result should be checked by a doctor, especially with headaches, itching after a bath or a raised platelet count.