After receiving my blood work report, I was faced with the overwhelming result that my Vitamin D value had dropped abysmally from 27.3 to 19.8 ng/mL. The Endocrine Society defines vitamin D insufficiency as 21–29 ng/mL. I am now below that line.

At 76 years old, diabetic for 25 years, and recently recovering from a compression fracture of my lower vertebrae, these numbers are worrisome.

For months I had been on a weekly Vitamin D supplement of 5,000 IU. Then my primary care physician suspended it, unable to explain why I was on it in the first place, and told me to wait for blood work. That test never came through—perhaps not ordered, perhaps overlooked. Weeks later, after another appointment and another delay, my lab finally showed the low values.

Alongside this, my cholesterol is high—around 344 mg/dL. The relationship between cholesterol and Vitamin D is well established: cholesterol derivatives in the skin are converted to Vitamin D₃ by UVB light. If Vitamin D is low, fat and cholesterol handling may falter. Studies show deficiency can raise total cholesterol and LDL, since Vitamin D helps regulate lipid metabolism in the liver.

This is what it feels like to face providers who do not think through.

The real question is this: how far have health professionals surrendered judgment to machines that spit out numbers without context? What does it say about medical training if a diagnosis collapses without the crutch of technology? Imagine an EMP—one pulse, and every screen goes dark. In that instant, humanity would face its greatest need for care with a system unable to think for itself.

This is not simply a critique of healthcare’s direction—it is a call to action. The threat is real and imminent. This is not fearmongering, but a sober warning of a future that is entirely possible if current trends continue.