---
title: Healthiest Hemoglobin Sits Just Above the Anemia Cutoff, a Study of 500,000 Finds
description: A study of 500,000 adults found the lowest death risk at hemoglobin just above the WHO anemia threshold, complicating advice on borderline anemia.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
updated: 2026-09-07T23:18:22.233Z
canonical: https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/borderline-anemia-hemoglobin-mortality-study
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/borderline-anemia-hemoglobin-267784.webp
categories: Longevity & Science
content_type: News
region: Global
publication: Rich Health Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

A new study of more than 500,000 adults finds that the hemoglobin levels linked to the lowest risk of death sit just above the cutoff doctors use to diagnose anemia, complicating the standard advice that a borderline result is nothing to worry about.

Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body, measured in grams per deciliter of blood. The World Health Organization sets sex-specific levels below which a person counts as anemic, and someone sitting just above that line is usually told they are fine, a state sometimes called borderline anemia.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow tracked 502,188 adults enrolled in the UK Biobank for a median of 13.6 years, comparing their hemoglobin against the WHO thresholds and recording deaths from any cause, from cardiovascular disease and from cancer. Their paper, "Association Between Blood Hemoglobin Concentration and Mortality by Age and Sex," was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

---

*This article is only available to registered readers. Visit the article URL to read the full piece.*