For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows. The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol -- problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. The numbers were gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans. Experts say the data reflect worsening public health and better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people now take blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel Jones, president of the American Heart Association. Also, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. "Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," said Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school. Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But comparable data wasn't available from other nations. Medco's data show that last year, 51% of U.S. children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50% the previous four years and 47% in 2001. The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly. "Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," said Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco. "We've become a couch potato culture." On the good side, he said, researchers have turned what used to be fatal diseases into chronic ones, including AIDS, some cancers, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease. Yet Epstein noted the biggest jump in use of chronic medications was in the 20- to 44-year-old age group, where it rose 20% over the six years. That was mainly because of more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention-deficit disorder and seizures. Antidepressant use in particular jumped among teens and working-age women. Adapted from article by Linda A Johnson, Associated Press | 