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According to a new research, nearly 60% of Americans are taking some kind of prescription drugs or the other. The team of researchers have taken into consideration data from national surveys of over 37,000 adults (aged 20 and over), to arrive at their findings, reports NBC News.

According to this study, intake of prescription drugs rose from 51% in the years 1999 and 2000 to 59% in 2011 and 2012. The research analyzed the usage of a wide array of prescription drugs that also included hearth medication, antibiotics and oral contraceptives, NBC reported.

However, the findings revealed that most of the drugs were related to obesity-connected diseases. Predominantly the drugs that combat high blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol etc ranked the highest in the list of prescription drugs. The findings also revealed that usage of antidepressants have doubled over the years, reports the Huffington Post.

The research paper was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to Huffington Post, Elizabeth Kantor, a co-author of the study and an epidemiologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, was reportedly quoted as saying that the significant rise doesn't necessarily represent a troubling trend. While she said it's imperative to be diligent about the prescribing of medications, the data may suggest health care has become more accessible.