How to diagnose Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease ?
A health care provider diagnoses anemia based on
                
- a medical history  - a physical exam  - blood tests
                
Medical History
                
Taking a medical history is one of the first things a health care provider may do to diagnose anemia. He or she will usually ask about the patients symptoms.
                
Physical Exam
                
A physical exam may help diagnose anemia. During a physical exam, a health care provider usually examines a patients body, including checking for changes in skin color.
                
Blood Tests
                
To diagnose anemia, a health care provider may order a complete blood count, which measures the type and number of blood cells in the body. A blood test involves drawing a patients blood at a health care providers office or a commercial facility. A health care provider will carefully monitor the amount of hemoglobin in the patients blood, one of the measurements in a complete blood count.
                
The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes Anemia Work Group recommends that health care providers diagnose anemia in males older than age 15 when their hemoglobin falls below 13 grams per deciliter (g/dL) and in females older than 15 when it falls below 12 g/dL.2 If someone has lost at least half of normal kidney function and has low hemoglobin, the cause of anemia may be decreased EPO production.
                
Two other blood tests help measure iron levels:
                
- The ferritin level helps assess the amount of iron stored in the body. A ferritin score below 200 nanograms (ng) per liter may mean a person has iron deficiency that requires treatment.2  - The transferrin saturation score indicates how much iron is available to make red blood cells. A transferrin saturation score below 30 percent can also mean low iron levels that require treatment.2
                
In addition to blood tests, the health care provider may order other tests, such as tests for blood loss in stool, to look for other causes of anemia.