When you have kidney disease, your kidneys cannot make enough EPO. Low EPO levels cause your red blood cell count to drop and anemia to develop. Most people with kidney disease will develop anemia. Anemia can happen early in the course of kidney disease and grow worse as kidneys fail and can no longer make EPO.

Why do patients with chronic kidney disease CKD develop ACD?

ACD, therefore, is caused by a complex interplay of proinflammatory cytokines which induce dysregulation in iron homeostasis, erythroid progenitor cell differentiation, erythropoietin synthesis and red cell longevity, all culminating in the pathogenesis of anemia [17].

What type of anemia is associated with chronic kidney disease?

Anemia of chronic renal disease, also known as anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD), is a form of normocytic, normochromic, hypoproliferative anemia. It is frequently associated with poor outcomes in chronic kidney disease and confers an increased mortality risk.