Episodes
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It’s estimated that this year, on average, 76 Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer every day. In Canada, prostate cancer makes up 22% of all cancer diagnoses in men. However unlike many cancers, prostate cancer is a condition that you can live and even thrive with.
Here, Dr. Peter Nord and Dr. Rajiv Singal hear from two Medcan clients who were diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer here at Medcan. Hear about their experiences, how you can prevent prostate cancer, and why a diagnosis does not have to hold you back from living a long and happy life.
LINKS
Visit our Men’s Health webpage to learn more about your prostate cancer risk and stay up to date on your screening.
See more prostate cancer statistics from the Canadian Cancer Society
Read some of the latest research on prostate cancer prevention and management:
”...higher intake of plant foods after prostate cancer diagnosis was associated with lower risk of cancer progression,” from this 2024 study in JAMA Network Open
KEY MOMENTS
00:57 How common is prostate cancer?
03:44 Your risk goes up with age
4:58 It might not affect your quality of life at all
6:54 Men don’t always advocate for their health
7:55 Meet two Medcan clients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer
9:19 What is PSA?
11:59 Prostate cancer screening: MRI, PSA ratio and biopsy
14:08 Experience and risk of getting a biopsy
16:22 The Gleason Score, and stages of prostate cancer
20:50 Is it cancer or BPH? (benign prostatic hyperplasia) How to know
23:47 Does testosterone increase your risk of prostate cancer?
25:02 Your PSA trend matters more than your current levels
26:24 A regular GP may not have caught this Medcan client’s cancer
27:55 Treatment options: radiation vs surgery
30:55 The importance of being proactive about your health and recovery
31:34 One man’s post-surgery 10,000 step streak
34:36 Surgery results and recovery
36:52 Lifestyle choices that can prevent an enlarged prostate
37:36 Tips from two of Dr. Singal’s patients
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Menopause costs the Canadian economy $3.5 billion a year. Many women suffer through their symptoms in silence in the workplace, with fears of being criticized, isolated or even terminated. At Medcan, we’re working hard to fight against the stigma surrounding menopause. Here, we feature our recent webinar, Leading Through Menopause: Strategies for Success.
Joined by Janet Ko, President of the Menopause Foundation, and Salima Valji, CEO of Unleash Forward, Inc., Clinical Director of Menopause and Perimenopause, Dr. Jennifer Zelovitzky, covers critical topics on menopause awareness and support in the workplace. The panelists debunk myths about hormone therapy and breast cancer risk, offer valuable tips for advocating for menopause-related needs in the workplace, and share resources to empower women and foster supportive environments at work.
LINKS
Medcan’s Menopause and Perimenopause Program led by Dr. Jennifer Zelovitzky, offers six months of comprehensive, holistic support that is personalized to your unique symptoms and concerns.Janet Ko is the President and Co-Founder of The Menopause Foundation, where you’ll find a helpful symptom tracker among other useful resources.
Salima Valji is the CEO and Founder of Unleash Forward Inc., a purpose driven leadership accelerator focused on elevating women and people of colour to senior leadership roles and board positions.
Find more helpful resources at The Menopause Society (formerly known as the North American Menopause Society).
More references and research:
The Menopause and Work in Canada report by the Menopause Foundation breaks down the economic impact of menopause.
Closing the women’s health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies by The McKinsey Health Institute
Read a recent critical review of the Women’s Health Initiative, which created societal distrust in the efficacy and safety of hormone replacement therapy.
Plus, our panelists’ favourite women’s health books to add to your bookshelf.
Dr. Jennifer Zelovitzky’s pick: Estrogen Matters: Why Taking Hormones in Menopause Can Improve Women's Well-Being and Lengthen Their Lives -- Without Raising the Risk of Breast Cancer by Dr. Avrum Bluming and Dr. Carol Tavris
Janet Ko’s pick: The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health With Facts And Feminism by Dr. Jen Gunter
Salima Valji’s pick: The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate the Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence by Dr. Lisa Mosconi
To stay in touch with our panelists, you can connect with Janet Ko and Salima Valji on LinkedIn.
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Missing episodes?
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As women age, physical and hormonal changes lead to new nutritional and wellness needs. So in episode 201 of Eat Move Think, Dr. Jennifer Zelovitzky and Leslie Beck, RD, team up to guide you through women’s health by the decade. Learn what’s happening inside and outside your body during each decade of adulthood from your 30s onward—and how simple lifestyle and diet choices can help you move through your life with vitality and confidence.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Within Canada’s 20 million person labour market, 5 million people are working women over the age of 40. According to a recent report from the Menopause Society, an estimated 1 in 10 women will leave the workforce due to unmanaged symptoms of menopause—that’s around 500,000 women who will stop working because of their symptoms this year.
As the Clinical Director of Medcan’s Menopause and Perimenopause Program, Dr. Jennifer Zelovitzky is working to change these statistics. In Part One of our Women’s Health Special Series, she’s joined by her former client, Norma Pasquale. After having faced debilitating perimenopause symptoms, Norma’s life changed after treating her symptoms with hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Hear her story, and learn how you can advocate for your health and get the best care and resources for your unique needs.
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Whether you’re giving a presentation at work or competing in a swim meet, there’s nothing more frustrating than having all the tools and the practice in the world, and fumbling under pressure.
Dr. Dana Sinclair, the author of Dialed In: Do Your Best When it Matters Most, knows this better than anyone. She’s a performance psychologist, and she’s worked with high-performers of all kinds (from the Toronto Raptors to Jamie Lee Curtis) to help them reach their potential. Here, Mind Station Team Lead Jennifer Baldachin chats with Dr. Sinclair. Get the best strategies to overcome fear, transform your self-talk, and dial into a performance mindset that lets you access your best self, no matter the circumstances.
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Irritable bowel syndrome is one of the world’s most common gastrointestinal disorders, and Canada’s rates are some of the highest. It’s difficult to diagnose, impossible to cure, and can be tough to talk about—but not for today’s guest.
Kate Scarlata, RD, is an expert in IBS and the low FODMAP diet. Here, she joins Leslie Beck, Medcan’s Clinical Director of Food and Nutrition, to give you a comprehensive guide to the many facets of IBS, and how to get the best results using the low FODMAP diet.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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A recent report showed that Canada’s national life expectancy dropped for the third year in a row—now sitting at an average of 81.3 years. Why are experts calling this decline a historical change? How does your own life expectancy compare, and how can you make tweaks in your routine to help you increase your lifespan and your healthspan?
Here, Dr. Peter Nord is joined by Dr. Doug Manuel, MD, director of the Big Life Lab at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and expert in preventive medicine. The two docs explore the implications of a shorter national life expectancy on your life, and the most important things you can do to avoid becoming part of that statistic.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Studying the brain has never been an easy feat. Researchers haven’t had steady access to growing human brain tissue—until now. The team at Sunnybrook’s Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program is making impressive progress with the help of their lab-grown organoids, which mimic living human neurons and allow scientists to more accurately study the way different conditions affect the brain.
Here, Dr. Peter Nord explores how this advancement could change the way we understand Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and how your lifestyle choices might affect whether or not you actually develop a cognitive disease. He’s joined by renowned neurologist Dr. Sandra Black, who leads the Dr. Sandra Black Centre For Brain Resilience and Recovery, as well as the Director of Sunnybrook’s Biological Sciences Platform. Dr. JoAnne McLaurin.Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Rucking, or wearing a weighted “rucksack” while walking or jogging, originated as a practical form of fitness hundreds of years ago. It started as a training technique to prepare soldiers to carry their gear long distances—and lately, civilians are praising its health benefits too. The hashtag #rucking currently has 23 million views on TikTok, and the versatile activity has been covered by experts like Peter Attia and Michael Easter.
Here, get the rundown on rucking and whether it’s right for you, with Move Host Dr. Andrew Miners and BackFitPro CSO Dr. Stuart McGill, the world’s leading back pain expert.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Whether you’re an introvert, an extrovert, or somewhere in between—there is robust research showing that your health is directly related to your relationships with the people around you. Here, we break down the benefits of social connection and the health risks of loneliness. Plus, we give you a sneak peek of what Canada’s future Social Connection Guidelines will look like.
Learn how your peers can shape who you are, why it’s tougher than ever to connect, and how you can prioritize your social life to help increase health and lifespan. Join our Mind Station Team Lead, Jennifer Baldachin, as she chats with Genwell Project CEO Pete Bombaci, social epidemiologist Dr. Kiffer Card, and The Peer Effect authors Syed Ali and Margaret Chin.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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As 2023 comes to a close, Eat Move Think is rounding up the health and wellness trends and updates that left lasting impressions on such Medcan experts as Shaun Francis, Dr. Peter Nord, Leslie Beck and Dr. Andrew Miners. How did their own personal wellness evolve? What innovations will they be watching next year? And what are the biggest takeaways that you can carry forward to optimize your own health in 2024?
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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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.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Many Canadians are packing their bags for their annual trip down south to spend the winter months somewhere tropical. Travelling has cognitive and physical benefits, so how can you continue to see the world while staying healthy? How can you get the right care when you’re away?
Here, Medcan CMO Dr. Peter Nord is joined by Medcan’s clinical director of travel medicine, Dr. Aisha Khatib. Learn how you can deal with health issues effectively while abroad (or even prevent them before you leave). Plus, get tips to zap your jet lag—whether you’re gone for the week or the whole winter.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Our host, Shaun Francis, recently spent time in Helena, Montana on an expedition with other business leaders and Veterans. Shaun is the founder of True Patriot Love, one of Canada’s largest charities that supports Canadian military members and their families and the organization behind the trip. Here, he joins his friends and fellow expeditioners: True Patriot CEO Nick Booth, former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Erin O’Toole, and Veteran Ryan Hawkyard.
They reminisce about the highs and lows of the trip, explore the unique health challenges our Veterans face, and discuss why an adventure-style journey might be just what you need to kickstart your wellness.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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When the temperature drops, we spend more time indoors, in closer proximity to other people, increasing our risk of getting sick. To help you stay healthy and happy during the colder months, we’re bringing you a comprehensive guide to the prevention and treatment of the cold and the flu. Get tips and tricks from all of your favourite hosts to help you eat, move, and think your way to staving off the sniffles, avoiding those aches and pains, and getting back on your feet. Learn which common remedies work, which don’t, and which are essential for staying healthy.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Dr. Jennifer Zelovitzky is the clinical director of the Menopause and Perimenopause at Medcan. Since the program launched this year, she’s been working with women at Medcan to educate them about their health and help treat their unique symptoms and situations.
Here, she joins Marisa Ciarlitto to chat about the questions that she gets asked most, how she helped some of her clients get through common problems, and how you can get the most benefit out of your next appointment with your doctor.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Adult acne affects 5.6 million Canadians (and 75% of them are women!). September is Acne Awareness Month, so in episode 187 of Eat Move Think, we’ve teamed up with Refine, Medcan’s dermatology clinic, for the ultimate guide to adult acne.
Dermatologist Dr. Jennifer Tran breaks down the who, what, where, when and whys of acne, and how you can know what’s best for your skin.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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It’s an exciting time for the fields of nutrition and neurology. This year, two large studies determined that taking a daily multivitamin could improve memory and cognition in older adults. So can supplements actually improve your brain health? How else can food choices affect cognitive function? Here, our Eat host, Leslie Beck, RD, is joined by Toronto Memory Program medical director Dr. Sharon Cohen to provide a comprehensive guide to multivitamins and cognition.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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Whether you’re working on a deadline or enjoying time with friends, city noise is jarring to the ears and even worse for concentration. A growing body of scientific evidence also suggests that high noise levels can be harmful to your health, increasing risk of hypertension, stroke and heart attacks.
Here, environmental studies researcher Dr. Tor Oiamo joins Medcan CEO Shaun Francis to explore the connection between noise and health. They explain what’s so bad about long-term noise exposure, and how you can know if you’re within safe sound limits.
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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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. And Medcan’s registered dietitians often get questions about how to promote digestion. So our Eat host, Leslie Beck, Medcan’s clinical director of food and nutrition, 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 to tackle: What foods promote gut health? Do probiotics and prebiotics work? And how can you tell whether everything’s working correctly? It’s all in here—and more!
Check out the episode webpage for links and more info.
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