Rates of colon cancer in Canada aren’t standard across the board. They’re dropping in populations over 50 years old, and rising in younger demographics. Dr. Jeff Axler, Medcan’s director of gastroenterology and endoscopy, has scoped over 40,000 colons throughout his career. Here, he chats with CMO Dr. Peter Nord about why Medcan’s colon cancer screening guidelines stand out from other recommendations in Canada, how you can learn about your unique risk, and why the preparation for your colonoscopy isn’t nearly as bad as you thought.

Gastrointestinal health complaints form a large proportion of the reasons people visit their doctors—even though few people like to talk about what’s going on down there. So our Eat host, Leslie Beck, suggested a guide to all the gut, microbiome and digestive tract questions our listeners might otherwise not be comfortable asking. Here, Beck is joined by Medcan gastroenterologist Dr. Bharat Markandey (pictured above).