Anemia commonly occurs in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD)—the permanent, partial loss of kidney function. Anemia might begin to develop in the early stages of CKD, when someone has 20 to 50 percent of normal kidney function. Anemia tends to worsen as CKD progresses. Most people who have total loss of kidney function, or kidney failure, have anemia.1 A person has kidney failure when he or she needs a kidney transplant or dialysis in order to live. The two forms of dialysis include hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Hemodialysis uses a machine to circulate a person’s blood through a filter outside the body. Peritoneal dialysis uses the lining of the abdomen to filter blood inside the body.