Study: Over Half Of Americans Medicated

First Time A Majority Of Nation's Insured Shown To Be Drugged For Chronic Illnesses

(AP)  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 not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.

"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted 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 it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.

Medco's data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.

The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.

Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:

Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.

One in four children and teenagers.

52 percent of adult men.

Three out of four people 65 or older.

Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.

Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.

"The only way I can do it and keep my sanity ... is I use pill boxes" to organize pills for each morning and night, said Walker, 57, a full-time nurse at an HIV clinic. Her 69-year-old husband, Charles, keeps his medicines lined up on his bureau: four pills for arthritis and heart disease, plus two inhalers for lung problems.

Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees both bad news and good in the findings.

"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.

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 - adults in the prime of life - where it rose 20 percent over the six years. That was mainly due to more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention-deficit disorder and seizures.

Antidepressant use in particular jumped among teens and working-age women. Doctors attributed that to more stress in daily life and to family doctors, including pediatricians, being more comfortable prescribing newer antidepressants.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen's Health Research Group said the increased use of medications is partly because the most heavily advertised drugs are for chronic conditions, so most patients will take them for a long time. He also blames doctors for not spending the time to help patients lose weight and make other healthy changes before writing a prescription.

The study highlights a surge in children's use of medicines to treat weight-related problems and other illnesses previously considered adult problems. Medco estimates about 1.2 million American children now are taking pills for Type 2 diabetes, sleeping troubles and gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn.

"A scarier problem is that body weights are so much higher in children in general, and so we're going to have larger numbers of adults who develop high blood pressure or abnormal cholesterol or diabetes at an earlier age," said Jones, of the heart association.

Dr. Richard Gorman, an American Academy of Pediatrics expert on children's medicines, said more children are taking medicines for "adult conditions" partly because manufacturers now provide pediatric doses, liquid versions or at least information to determine the right amount for a child.

The Medco study found that among boys and girls under age 10, the most widely used medication switched from allergy drugs to asthma medicines between 2001 and 2007. Gorman said that's because over the last decade, asthma care has gone from treating flare-ups to using inhaled steroids regularly to prevent flare-ups and hospitalizations.

[north1949]

This statistic is really frightening. When I travel to the United States I am shocked by the high pressure television advertising by the pharmaceutical companies for drugs that really seem like poisons when these advertisements list the side effects. I''ve also looked at the hundred thousand or so deaths each
year due to complications from the drugs themselves.
Wake up!! The average lifespan in the US is lower
than countries not inhabited by pill poppers!!

I am proud to say that I am prescription free. Who ever thought of this idea of controlling symptoms with synthetic drugs laced with side effects had profit in mind and not the well being of the patient. I am all for trauma medicine and broken bones, hip and knee and elbow replacement. But this drugging of our people with the cholesterol scam and other unreliable testing just to sell synthetic medication laced with side effects. I am still waiting on the first person to die with arteries closed up with cholesterol.

[j-blrd]

You''re tired of telling patients what could save their lives so instead your giving them a pill? Aren''t you tired of pushing the pills or saying here this will make it all better just like you want it to, when you know it''s not true. I know you don''t wanna sound like a jerk, and I''m sure most people don''t listen to advice because a pill is easier, but if someone comes in coughing up blood and says they smoke two packs a day do you say oh you need a pill to fix that cough or do you say you need to quit or this smoking is gonna kill you. I smoked for years and doctors(the good ones anyway) at least mentioned quitting smoking if they didn''t make me feel guilty for having the stupid addiction in the first place. Doctors should treat every other problem the same way, whether it''s an eating disorder or slight case of the nerves(anxiety) or "depression". I know that there are some people that need medication but not over half of the population. People or patients shouldn''t be coddled. They should be reminded every now and again they are idiots looking for the easiest way out.

[brainteaser2]

Hi, I''m a doctor. I have been in practice 29 years. I''m still waiting for the free vacations and lavish gifts from drug companies. I have never received one or even heard of someone getting more than a note pad.
As far as advising patients to diet and exercise most of us are tired of hearing ourselves talk. Patients arrive determined that they are going to get a pill that will instantly cure them.

[hippychicky-2009]

It seems to me that if doctors were really concerned with our health they would tell more people to eat healthy and exercise instead of shoveling pills down our throats. The modern medical industry hasn''''t cured anything except pharma-ceo''''s bank accounts. They have so much money, power, and influence, and don''''t get me started on the advertisements. Studies have shown people are more likely to influenced by an advertisement for a medication, than an advertisement for any other product.

Posted by J-BlRD

***applauds**** that is so true. I think what I find most disturbing as a nurse, is the growing number of psychiatric medications that are being prescribed. There is a pill for everything. And it has to do with making money not helping people and their health.

[dinkydog1]

Excuse me...but most of these drugs need to be prescribed by a doctor. The use of Americans on chronic medication can only grow if the doctor prescribes it...so the doctor needs to stop blaming the commercials. Posted by GrammaWhamma

Yes thats true they are prescribed by a Doctor. My Doctor says he gets so many perks, gifts, vacations ect from these companies that it''s embarrising.

[grammawhamma]

"In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry''s relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow."

---------

Excuse me...but most of these drugs need to be prescribed by a doctor. The use of Americans on chronic medication can only grow if the doctor prescribes it...so the doctor needs to stop blaming the commercials.

I personally think all drug commercials should be banned as were cigarette commercials.

We shouldn''t have to "ask your doctor if this drug might be right for you". After all, your doctor is the one with the medical degree.

[olebd]

I thought I read a news article a while back that said Enzyte was pretty much useless for natural mle enhancement yet, their ads are still running.
***???

[j-blrd]

It seems to me that if doctors were really concerned with our health they would tell more people to eat healthy and exercise instead of shoveling pills down our throats. The modern medical industry hasn''t cured anything except pharma-ceo''s bank accounts. They have so much money, power, and influence, and don''t get me started on the advertisements. Studies have shown people are more likely to influenced by an advertisement for a medication, than an advertisement for any other product.

[j-blrd]

This article is depressing. I need another pill to numb this chronic pain called life. I wanna be happy and pain free like in those commercials. How come my life isn''t more like the commercials I watch on tv. This life of tv watching and working at an office job is so full of suffering and I cannot deal with it, so if one pill won''t do it maybe 18 will. I can''t believe that woman is taking 18 pills a day. That''s gotta be up there with Elvis'' daily pill intake. I wouldn''t sit on the toilet too long if I were her, just out of the fear of it becoming my final resting place.