Latest news with #youngerwomen
The Independent
21-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
How many Americans believe in astrology and rely on fortune-telling? A new survey has answers
A lot of American adults — about 3 in 10 — make use of astrology, tarot cards or fortune tellers at least once a year. But only a small fraction of them rely on what they learn from these practices to make major decisions. That's according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center, encompassing 9,593 U.S. adults who were interviewed last October. Overall, according to Pew, about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they engage in at least one of these activities mostly "just for fun," while about 1 in 10 say they engage mostly because they 'believe the practices give them helpful insights.' Only about 1% say they rely 'a lot' on what they learn from these practices when making major life decisions. Yet it's a big business. The psychic services industry — which encompasses various specialties such as astrology, palm-reading, psychic readings and fortune-telling — generated an estimated $2.3 billion in revenue in 2024 and employed 105,000 people, according to market research firm IBIS World. 'Traditional skepticism about consulting psychics has waned, with more consumers embracing these services, especially in times of uncertainty,' wrote IBIS World analyst Michal Dalal. The biggest astrology fans? Younger women and LGBTQ+ people There were some major demographic differences in responses to the Pew survey, notably finding that younger adults — and especially younger women — are more likely than other major age groups to consult astrology or horoscopes. According to Pew, about 4 in 10 women ages 18 to 49 say they believe in astrology. That compares with about 3 in 10 women 50 and older and about 2 in 10 men under age 50. Another distinctive group: LGBTQ+ adults. According to the survey, about half of them consult astrology or a horoscope at least yearly — roughly twice the share among U.S. adults overall. Pew found that about 2 in 10 LGBTQ+ adults say that when they make major life decisions, they rely at least 'a little' on what they've learned from a fortune teller, tarot cards, astrology or a horoscope — a considerably larger share than any other demographic subgroup. On the other hand, the survey found that adults ages 65 or older, those with high incomes and college degrees, and those who identify as politically conservative are less likely than other adults to believe in astrology and engage with tarot cards and fortune tellers. Among other questions, Pew asked respondents if they were religiously affiliated, and about 7 in 10 said yes. Of that group, about 3 in 10 said they believe in astrology — very similar to the percentage of astrology believers among the religiously unaffiliated respondents who identified as atheist, agnostic or 'nothing in particular.' About one-third of Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics and adults who say their religion is 'nothing in particular' said they believe in astrology, according to Pew. Atheists, agnostics, white evangelical Protestants and Jewish Americans, meanwhile, were less likely than the general public to say they believe in astrology. Among Hispanic Catholics, about 1 in 10 said they rely on insights from these practices at least 'a little' when making major life decisions, which was more than most of the other religious groups featured in the survey. A growing industry On the specific question of astrology, the new survey found that 27% of U.S. adults believed in it — similar to the 29% who answered affirmatively in a 2017 Pew survey. According to IBIS World, the psychic services industry's total revenue has increased by more than 4% annually since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, 'when business closures, sickness and loss of loved ones prompted a surge in demand for spiritual guidance services.' ' Astrology and aura reading are leveraging digital platforms to extend their reach,' IBIS World said. 'Thanks to easy access via mobile apps and social media platforms, personalized reports and virtual readings are gaining traction with younger consumers.' Bias based on astrological signs? Expert says that's 'irrational' Astrology, throughout its long history, has been embraced by its believers and treated with bemusement or even ridicule by skeptics. It was the subject of extensive research led by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, Jackson Lu. His team, using a sample of more than 170,000 people, determined in 2020 that there was extensive discrimination in China against Virgos, but that the bias was 'irrational' because astrological signs predict neither personality or job performance. For supporters of psychic services, there have been positive developments more recently. Among them: — Last year, the City Council in Norfolk, Virginia, repealed a 45-year-old ban on 'the practice of palmistry, palm reading, phrenology or clairvoyance, for monetary or other compensation.' Under that ban, various forms of fortune-telling could lead to as much as a year in jail. — ' Look Into My Eyes,' a full-length documentary about psychics in New York, received numerous positive reviews after it was released in September. AP film critic Lindsey Bahr called it 'unjudgmental, funny and poignant.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
National Post
18-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Finding a million more Conservative votes: 'It's about figuring out a way to speak to women'
Article content Talk of the new kind of conservative coalition that's emerging animates Ben; his faint British accent (he moved to Canada as a teenager) becomes noticeably more pronounced as his enthusiasm builds. Article content 'What group do you suggest could be added to this coalition?' I ask. 'Female voters' is Ben's unequivocal answer. 'We did very well with younger men,' he explains, 'and I think there are a lot of women, younger women … who face the same problems as young men … making it harder for them to achieve the things they want to achieve in life.' Article content Article content While I agree wholeheartedly with Ben's aspiration to engage women, it's no secret the Conservative messaging didn't land well with female voters in the federal campaign. We both wince recalling the backlash to Poilievre's observations about biological clocks early in the campaign. Article content 'So I think it's going to be about figuring out a way to speak to women … on issues that affect them,' Ben reflects, in ways that don't alienate other people. But, he admits, it's a challenge to thread that needle. Article content There are many divides bubbling up in Canada's political landscape — generational, regional, rural versus urban, education levels. And now gender. 'The parties of the right are increasingly male-dominated,' Ben notes, and the 'parties of the left are increasingly female-dominated.' It's an unhealthy social divide, he adds, 'a trend that's happening independent of any specific leader or any specific party, and I think that's part of why we didn't do as well with younger female voters.' Article content These trends, Ben explains, are happening all over the Western world, all over advanced democracies. 'So you can accelerate them and you can minimize them, but you can't necessarily avoid them.' Article content In an effort to turn the conversation in a more positive direction, I ask Ben about Poilievre's decision to run for election in Alberta. 'There's a touch of destiny about this,' Ben answers thoughtfully, 'I think he's going to be an important voice in the next few years, simultaneously speaking to those (western) frustrations and what needs to change, but also articulating a slightly different but more expansive vision, a more inclusive vision, of what it means to be Canadian. Article content 'I think the centre of political gravity is slowing shifting west in Canada,' Ben continues, 'just following population trends and demographics.' And our vision of what it means to be Canadian needs to be updated, which he acknowledges is a big project and 'not something you can impose from the top down.' Article content The ubiquitous symbol of Canada is the maple leaf, Ben explains, 'but you don't get maple trees west of Manitoba.' (He means sugar maples, as seen on the flag.) There are shared values across the country — he's lived in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, since immigrating to Canada — but, he observes, 'it's very much an eastern-centric Laurentian vision of what this country means, and I still think the future of Canada is very much out west … If people move within Canada, people go east to west, not west to east.' Article content Article content The resurgent wave of patriotism, triggered by Donald Trump's threats, is an opportunity to create a slightly different vision of what it means to be Canadian, Ben suggests, one that speaks to a Canada of 2025 and not a Canada of 1991. Article content The last election was about change, Ben concludes, and that desire for change is not going to go anywhere. 'Some people think it will just bubble down, and I think it will just bubble up even more.' Article content
Medscape
08-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Young Women's Breast Cancer Deaths Plummet Over Decade
Despite the rising incidence rates of breast cancer among younger women, advances in treatment and detection appear to reduce breast cancer mortality in this population. New research highlights a substantial improvement in survival outcomes across all molecular subtypes and racial groups, suggesting that precision medicine approaches are having meaningful impacts, even as the disease becomes more common in women younger than 50 years. The results of a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025, which analyzed trends across molecular subtypes and racial groups, adds granularity to the recent Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer and the Breast Cancer Statistics 2024 report. The research presented at the meeting focuses specifically on younger women aged 20-49 years, a group often underrepresented in cancer mortality analyses. Its findings, which are currently under peer review for publication, suggest that advances in breast cancer management are making significant impacts on survival outcomes for younger women, according to Adetunji Toriola, MD, PhD, MPH, who presented the findings at a press conference, at AACR. Study Rationale and Methodology The research was motivated by the team's earlier findings showing increases in breast cancer incidence among younger women in the United States; increases in breast cancer incidence were observed across all ethnic and racial groups. 'One of the most fascinating findings in this study was that the incidence of breast cancer among women of the more recent birth cohort, particularly in the 1980 birth cohort, was 25% higher than women of previous birth cohorts,' said Toriola, professor of surgery and co-lead of the Cancer Prevention Program at Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, during the press conference. This rising incidence prompted the researchers to investigate whether mortality patterns followed similar trends. Using SEER-17 registry data, they analyzed 112,826 breast cancer cases and 11,661 breast cancer–specific deaths among women aged 20-49 years diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer between 2010 and 2020. The team used incidence-based mortality methodology, which 'allows for more precise attribution of deaths to the specific cancer diagnosis compared to mortality estimates from death certificates,' Toriola said. Joinpoint regression models were used to identify significant changes in mortality trends over time. Marked Declines Across Subtypes and Racial Groups The analysis revealed substantial drops in mortality across all molecular subtypes, with particularly sharp declines beginning around 2016. Overall, incidence-based mortality declined from 9.70 per 100,000 in 2010 to 1.47 per 100,000 in 2020. This decline was consistent across molecular subtypes, including luminal A, luminal B, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–enriched, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). For luminal A breast cancer, mortality decreased consistently from 2010, with a more pronounced decline after 2017 (annual percent change [APC], −32.88; 95% CI, −55.17 to −21.30). TNBC showed a similar pattern, with a marked decline beginning in 2018 (APC, −32.82; 95% CI, −41.47 to −17.79). When examined by race and ethnicity, the data showed substantial improvements across all groups, though racial disparities persist. Non–Hispanic Black women had higher incidence-based mortality in both 2010 (16.56 per 100,000) and 2020 (3.41 per 100,000) than non–Hispanic White women (9.18 per 100,000 in 2010 and 1.16 per 100,000 in 2020). 'In other races, we had a cluster of about between 7 and 10 per 100,000 women for incident-based mortality in 2010, which reduced to between 1 and 2 per 100,000 in 2020,' Toriola noted during the press conference. Importantly, the data indicated more pronounced mortality reductions beginning around 2016-2017 in many subgroups. For non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native women, there was an almost 50% reduction in incidence-based mortality from 2018 onward. Toriola attributed these accelerated improvements to the introduction of novel targeted therapies during this period. Age- and Subtype-related Survival Differences The study highlighted marked long-term survival differences between age subgroups. Women aged 20-39 years had an 86.6% 5-year relative survival compared with 92% for women aged 40-49 years, while 10-year survival rates were 78.5% and 87.6%, respectively. According to Toriola, this finding highlights the need for targeted screening in high-risk populations younger than 40 years. Younger women 20-39 years old with luminal A breast cancer showed worse survival outcomes than those with luminal B cancer after the 5-year mark. Toriola described this finding as unexpected, as luminal A breast cancer is typically considered to have the most favorable prognosis. 'We noticed that at the start of follow-up, the survival rates for women with luminal A and luminal B were identical, but this graph started separating as early as year 1,' explained Toriola. 'By year 5, the 5-year relative survival for women with luminal B was better than for women with luminal A, which is not what we would expect.' When asked about this finding, Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, who was not involved in the study, said that, although unexpected, this phenomenon has been observed previously. 'This is consistent with what we see clinically and have seen in prior studies,' Partridge stated in an interview. She referenced previous research documenting this pattern in younger women with breast cancer. Persistent Racial Disparities in Survival Although overall mortality decreased, survival analyses revealed that non–Hispanic Black women continue to have the worst survival outcomes. At the 10-year follow-up, all racial groups except non–Hispanic Black women had relative survival rates above 80%. For non–Hispanic Black women, the 10-year relative survival rate was 75.5%. When asked about factors contributing to persistent racial disparities, Partridge emphasized: 'I think much of the story here is access to care and treatment, and adherence to therapy. I am not sure of any clear biological or treatment response issues that have been validated definitively in this setting.' Although the higher overall mortality among Black women with breast cancer aligns with the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer and the Breast Cancer Statistics 2024 report, the research presented at the AACR went one step further to analyze racial disparities in long-term survival by tumor subtype specifically in younger women. The lowest long-term mortality across subtypes and races was observed for non–Hispanic Black women with TNBC (10-year survival: 67.1%), followed by Hispanic women with TNBC (10-year survival: 70.8%) and non–Hispanic Black women with ERBB2-enriched breast cancer (10-year survival: 74.1%). Therapeutic Advances Driving Improved Outcomes Toriola suggested that the dramatic mortality reductions, particularly after 2016, likely reflect significant advances in breast cancer management, particularly novel targeted therapies. When asked about therapeutic advances that have likely contributed to improved outcomes in younger patients with breast cancer, Partridge said: 'For young-onset patients, the majority of whom have ER+ disease, the increasing role of ovarian function suppression and addition of aromatase inhibitors and associated risk reduction in early stage disease likely is having a big effect.' Partridge added that young women are also more likely to have TNBC or HER2+ disease, two of the more aggressive subtypes that now have new therapies, including immunotherapy and anti-HER2 therapy, respectively. 'Their increasing use and associated survival advantages are also improving young-onset disease outcomes,' she said. When questioned about the relative contribution of screening vs treatment advances, Toriola noted, 'Both have contributed significantly to reductions in mortality.' Indeed, a 2024 study estimating the number of breast cancer deaths averted from prevention, screening, and treatment efforts between 1975-2020 showed that treatment advances contributed to about 75% of the deaths averted, and mammography screening contributed to the remaining 25% of the deaths averted. Clinical Implications Considering the lower 10-year survival among women aged 20-39 years than women aged 40-49 years, Toriola suggested that targeted screening in high-risk populations aged 40 years or younger may be needed. Although Partridge does not believe that the results presented at the conference should immediately alter current screening recommendations by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, which recommends biennial mammography starting at the age of 40 years, she noted that younger women who are at risk might benefit from earlier screening. 'We need to develop better tools for screening and better tools and communications to identify young people at high risk who warrant earlier screening,' she said in the interview. For clinicians treating younger patients with breast can, Partridge emphasized the importance of personalized approaches: 'Carefully and tailored treatment is needed, targeting the tumor in consideration of the host, including issues unique to or accentuated by young age onset, such as fertility and genetics.' Toriola concluded his presentation by outlining future research directions: 'We need to continue impactful research to ensure that there is a continued reduction in mortality and that we understand the biologic mechanisms driving incidence and response to treatment.' Toriola and Partridge had no financial relationships to disclose.
