ST. PETERSBURG — The pills on Sherry Fox's nightstand are the most important part of her evening routine.
There's metformin to help control her blood sugar and Lyrica for the pain brought on by fibromyalgia. A drug known as Singulair makes it easier for her to breathe.
The medications make a difference, the 60-year-old retiree said outside of her St. Petersburg apartment last week.
"I feel good," she said. "I wouldn't be feeling good without them."
New research suggests her situation is becoming the norm.
A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that almost 60 percent of adults in the United States take at least one prescription drug — up from 51 percent in 2000.
The study also documented a spike in the share of adults using five or more medications. The figure jumped from 8 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2012.
The spike is not surprising, said John Clark, an assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of South Florida who was not involved in the study.
"We have a culture in this country where we use drugs to treat different health problems," Clark said.
The study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected between 1999 and 2000, and 2011 and 2012.
The increase was apparent among most classes of drugs. The use of prescription drugs for high blood pressure jumped from 20 to 27 percent. For high cholesterol, it rose from 7 to 17 percent.
Two notable exceptions: Prescription pain medication use remained stable, and the use of sex hormones among women dipped.
At first, the team thought the overall trend was being driven by the aging population, lead researcher Elizabeth Kantor said. Their rationale: Older adults tend to take more drugs than younger adults.
"But when we accounted for the changing age structure, the increase was still there," said Kantor, an epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Instead, she believes multiple factors are likely at play, including the proliferation of generic drugs and changes to the federal Medicare program for senior citizens. Both have made prescription drugs more affordable and accessible over the past decade, she said.
The continued rise in obesity rates may also be a factor.
"When we looked at the top 10 most commonly used drugs in 2011-12, most of those drugs were for conditions like hypertension, diabetes and heart failure," she said. "It did raise the idea the obesity epidemic is influencing the landscape of prescription drug use."
Dr. William Minnix has seen the trend firsthand from Palms Primary Care, his practice in South Pasadena. He says his patients are better informed about their options, thanks largely to marketing by the drug companies.
"Some come in having seen a product on TV that they think might help them, and we discuss why that may or may not be," he said.
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Explore all your optionsHe sees the uptick as a positive for patients.
"You can say the drug companies have pushed the narrative that for any complaint in life, there's a remedy," he said. "But most of these drugs actually improve life span and longevity."
Clark, the USF professor, agreed.
"There's not a lot of good, strong evidence to show that prescription drug use is bad," he said.
The trend has, however, driven a cost increase for health insurance companies in recent years, especially as expensive speciality drugs have emerged on the market.
"Pharmacy generally is the biggest cost trend that we've got in health care," said Ken Burdick, CEO of the Tampa-based WellCare. "It's not hospital costs. It's not surgeries. It's not physician visits. It's pharmaceuticals."
For Fox, the prescription drugs have been part of a broader effort to get healthy. She recently changed her diet and lost about 50 pounds, she said.
She's seen her quality of life improve dramatically, she added.
"I'm happy," she said. "The drugs have definitely helped."
Contact Kathleen McGrory at kmcgrory@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8330. Follow @kmcgrory.