I would add this answer:

Led to the massive over-prescribing of dangerous and powerful drugs to millions of patients, resulting in very large numbers of deaths and harmful side-effects.

I have a young Cardiologist who told my husband and me on the last visit that drug companies are suffering from the downturn in the economy because of the billions that they are spending on research, and seems to believe it!!

Yes, among the most brainwashed of all are my colleagues.

When this first began (& i was firmly ensconced in the medical system) i strongly believed the DTC ads would be helpful.  I was working for a doctor at the time & believed that folks should educate themselves & be their own advocates, to learn more of the meds they took & be more aware of side effects.  (The doc i worked for was not very impressed with my thoughts, however.)

Sadly, that is not at all what has occurred with these ads.  

Instead, ads give folks a false impression of what they do & then the folks insist on the meds to their docs.  No one is better educated or making a better effort at partnering with docs rather than taking their word as gospel.

I'm long out of the conventional medical field (it has been over 5 years since i was on staff at a hospital).  But we still need to help folks learn to be their own advocates & educate themselves.  I'm so impressed with your website Dr. Davis, as it is a wonderful tool to do so.

Sad that the results of your poll show only the opinion of a small more enlightened minority...

True, but it's a start!

I can only hope that the "enlightened" further enlighten those around them.

Some of that "awareness" may just be the power of suggestion making people think they have a disease and need that drug.  For example, restless leg syndrome is rare, though it is real.  Why advertize drugs to treat a rare condition???  I'm sure individual doctors can diagnose it and know what to prescibe.  Could it be that they want people to think they have restless leg syndrome when they really don't so that drug sales will increase?  Any why is it necessary to advertize antipsychotic drugs?  Do they think the entire population is crazy???  I'm sure that psychiatrists are capable of knowing what to prescibe without direct advertizing.

I do not understand what advantage expensive Plavix has over dirt cheap low dose aspirin.

From LAtimesblogs --
Plavix advertising indirectly cost taxpayers an extra $207 million over five years

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/11/plavix-advertising-indirectly-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-207-million-over-five-years-1.html

Hello, you have tried to your best. I agree with you and really liked it. Great effort... Keeps it up!!!!

Hey I just a got a VAP blood test and my results stunned me.

LDL 173 with 80% Type B. I was stunned, because I have been taking my fish oil, eating low carb, and no grains for 8 months now. She said your HDL is 44 so a statin is a better choice than niacin, but I insisted on niacin. My Doctor isn't happy, but it's my body, so my decision.

Well yesterday I went brought that glucose meter and been taking my glucose reading and found them to range between 70 and 84.

That is until today. I went out to dinner and ordered mussels and shrimp cooked in olive oil with cherry tomatoes with a side of spinach. Low carb right?

Well an hour later I took a reading and found my blood glucose to be 137.

What the Heck?

I eat out a lot; maybe these places have been adding sugar to my Low Carb orders and that is the reason for my poor VAP test results? I am hoping the glucose meter helps me understand the weaknesses in my diet and with the niacin help me score better in my next VAP test.

All I can say is thank you Dr. Davis for sharing your knowledge with us.

Steve

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Dear Dr. Davis;   thank you so much for your blog...praying you reach many people.

Is there a test for K2 deficiency? I have both osteoporosis and CAD. I have asked my doctors about vitamin K, but neither could tell me anything about it.

What is the difference between K1 and K2?

Great blog. Thank you.

Anne--
I have not yet been able to find a laboratory that makes K2 measurements available. However, it is a safe assumption that, unless you ingest fermented traditional cheeses (not Velveeta, etc.), pate or liver, or natto (blechh!), then there's an excellent chance you are deficient. To my knowledge, there is also no definition of deficiency, even if we were able to obtain a blood value. This will unfold over the next two years as data trickles out and experience accumulates.

What is a good dose for Vitamin K? Sine I'm not much of a cheese eater, or liver for that matter, I figure it can't hurt to take a supplement....but have no idea how much to take!

The problem is that there is no dose.
Based on available data, we have been advocating a dose of 1000 mcg (1 mg) per day, though the evidence is, admittedly, slim to support this specific dose. Changes are possible--probable--in future, as the experience develops.

Vitamin K test available at http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=4131&query=vitamin%20k%20testing&hiword=VITAM%20VITAMER%20VITAMERS%20VITAMI%20VITAMINA%20VITAMINC%20VITAMIND%20VITAMINE%20VITAMINES%20VITAMINIC%20VITAMINK%20VITAMINS%20k%20testing%20vitamin%20

Differences between K1 & K2 also discussed at http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=1152&query=VIT%20K1%20K2&hiword=K1%20K2%20VIT%20

aCCORDING TO THE ABOVE:  Tufts University tests the vitamin content of foods for the U.S. Department of Agriculture which maintains a database. Not too long ago, new technology allowed a more precise determination of the vitamin K content of food. Using the new technology, Tufts researcher Dr. Sarah Booth discovered that the vitamin K content of most foods is lower than researchers previously thought.

Green leafy vegetables supply 40-50% of vitamin K for most Americans. Vegetable oils are the next highest source. Hydrogenated oils (margarine, for example) create an unnatural form of K that may actually stop the vitamin from working.

There are three different types of vitamin K: K1 which is from plants, K2 which is made by bacteria and K3 which is synthetic. Vitamin K3 is generally regarded as toxic because it generates free radicals. This version shows promise in the treatment of cancer. K2 specifically keeps calcium and phosphorus out of the aorta, and reverses the effects of heart-unfriendly diets. The body converts K1 to K2.

Dosage and precautions

Vitamin K is not stored in the body, and is therefore nontoxic in high amounts. Forty-five milligrams a day were used in osteoporosis studies without any ill effect. Vitamin K has been approved in Japan for the treatment of osteoporosis since 1995. Several thousand times more than what people are currently getting in their diet has been taken without any toxicity. Dosage depends on an individual's diet, age, whether they are taking drugs, and what stressors are present. Generally, 10 mg/day is recommended.

If you want to get your vitamin K level tested, request the osteocalcin test. It is much more reliable than coagulation tests. The osteocalcin test measures how much carboxylated osteocalcin you have. Since carboxylation is dependent on vitamin K, this test will give you a good idea of your vitamin K status, and whether or not you're headed for osteoporosis and possibly heart disease.

An article at the Weston Price Foundation suggests that high amounts of vitamin K1 supplementation might not be correct. The author states:

These results show that our absorption of the vitamin [k1] declines as the amount we consume increases and strengthens the interpretation that we might only be able to absorb about 200 micrograms per day. [of K1 from vegtables] …

Preliminary evidence indicates that doses of 1000 micrograms per day of supplemental K1 may contribute to periodontal disease,31 suggesting that our bodies' resistance to absorbing this much K1 from vegetables may serve an important purpose.

www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html

My mother-in-law is taking nattokinase for blood clot protection and disolving a clot in her caratoid retinal artery. Would taking K2 with natto kinase interfere with the clot disolving action of nattokinase?

My motherinlaw is taking nattokinase and k2 together. She had a clot in her retinal artery causing some vision loss. Would taking k2 together with nattokinase dimish of help the nattokinase effect of disolving this blood clot?

Dear Mr Davis

Iam  lately diagnosed with arterial calcification in my lower limbs. I have no diabetes, no cholestrol issues nor any kidney or blood pressure issues, yeah I do have some anxiety.

Please tell me whether taking vitamin k2 supplements would help. Also is there a test to find out if I am defecient in vitamink. What is the best supplement I can take.
Thanks

Kindest Regards
Salim Khatri

Actually, aspirin is a vitamin K antagonist. It is sort of silly to take an antagonist AND vitamin K.
Further, if aspirin effectively blocks the K from working, the aspirin is maybe preventing platelets from clumping, but preventing inappropriate calcium deposition and therefore leading (over a long time) to arteriosclerosis and therefore CVD.
Vitamin K2 is made by bacteria and found in fermented foods and animal organ meats. These are two food groups that have strong cultural ties, but they are lost as various cultures have blended into the American culture of some pretty heinous foods.
So eat sausage, sauerkraut, pickles, natto, kimchee, organ meats and avoid pasteurized of the above and this may kill the bacteria that are making the K2.

Vitamin K, on the other hand, participates in the liver production of blood clotting factors (like II, VII, IX, and X, among others for you curious ones).