BRAINCOG
A programme to help prevent onset of
Mild Cognitive Impairment & Alzheimer’s disease
Because everyone deserves a memorable life
Do you have a loved one who is experiencing cognitive decline, or are you concerned about maintaining your cognitive health as you age? Perhaps you may be experiencing cognitive related symptoms such as: memory or learning difficulties, struggling to make decisions at work, lacking focus, cant find the right words in conversations, or loss of motivation? If so, it may signify signs of early cognitive impairment and BRAINCOG may be just what you need! BRAINCOG, is Gibraltar’s first profesisonal Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) / Alzheimer’s disease Nutrition & Lifestyle Preventative Programme, designed specifically for adults 30 years and older, which could help to support the declining mental health crisis in the population. This innovative programme offers a holistic approach to preventing or reversing MCI, and preventing early Alzheimer’s disease, by optimising cognitive function through science-backed strategies that focus on nutrition, lifestyle, and mental well-being.
By participating in BRAINCOG, you’ll learn how to incorporate brain-boosting nutritional strategies into your daily diet, optimise your lifestyle habits, and engage in mental exercises that support cognitive resilience embracing the very latest science. ANDREW FORTUNA NT’s robust nutrition and academic credentials, clinical experience as a Registered Nutritonist / Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, food behaviour change, laboratory testing, and use of validated cognitive assessment tools, will guide you every step of the way. BRAINCOG offers professional personalised advice and practical tools tailored to your unique needs, with the support of other healthcare professionals when required. Whether you’re looking to safeguard your brain health for the future or already noticing early signs of cognitive decline, BRAINCOG provides the knowledge and support you need to take proactive steps in prevention. Don’t wait for symptoms to appear, start now to protect your brain, enhance your overall mental wellbeing and quality of life. Join me in taking a stand against cognitive decline and invest in a healthier, sharper future today! Fees and content at the bottom of the page.
ABOUT ME
ANDREW FORTUNA NT
Andrew will deliver the BRAINCOG programme. He is a Registerered Nutritionist (mBANT) and Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (CNHC) with over four years clinical nutrition experience supporting clients with complex health conditions. He has completed a postgraduate Masters programme in Personalised Nutrition and an Honours degree in Nutritional Science, with research projects and dissertation specialising on brain energy metabolism and fatty acid utilisation in APOE genotypes in MCI / Alzheimer’s disease disease which he intends to publish in an academic journal in due course. He is a qualified Montreal Cogntive Assessment (MoCA) provider, a highly sensitive test for detecting MCI, and an active member of the UK Royal Society of Medicine. He has a deep understanding of human anatomy and physiology, human biochemistry, blood biomarkers, cellular and molecular mechanisms, as well as lifestyle factors involved in the progression from cognitively healthy, MCI, through to (early) Alzheimer’s disease. He is also clinically trained in nutrition, qualified Neuro-Linguistics Programming practitioner specialising in food behaviour change, a certified functional blood chemistry analyst, and iridologist. and ocassionally refers clients to other healthcare professionals, including GPs in the Gibraltar Health Authority.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS & REGULATORY BODIES
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS & REGULATORY BODIES
ANDREW FORTUNA NT is a member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT), the leading professional body regulating Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners in one-to-one clinical practice in the UK. BANT members are regulated by the CNHC, demonstrating to the general public and to other healthcare providers that they meet UK-wide standards of practice in their work. CNHC members are overseen by the UK Professional Standards Authority (PSA) for Health and Social care, who also regulates dieticians and General Practitiners in Gibraltar and the UK. It’s important to work with a regulated Nutrition professional, click on the toggle below to understand why.
Working with me is a guarantee that you are consulting with a clinically-trained nutritional professional with a strong academic background (MSc & BSc Hons), licensed, regulated, and professionally insured practitioner, who is qualified in blood chemistry analysis and other lab testing techniques, with many years clinical experience successfully supporting clients with a variety of ‘chronic’ health conditions.
It is important to work with a:
1) professional overseen by a recognised regulatory body to guarantee your safety.
2) clinically-trained nutrition professional who can safely and legally work with persons with medically diagnosed conditions and prescribed medications
3) regulated by a recognised body requiring continued professional development
4) has a professional malpractice insurance to cover Nutritional Therapy
5) has completed an Honours Degree or a Masters qualification in a nutrition field.
WARNING
Some nutrition providers in Gibraltar have obtained basic nutrition ‘accreditation’ from some poorly recognised online nutrition courses over a short duration, without disclosing details on their website of where those ‘accreditations’ were obtained and with no regulatory body overseeing them or answer to, whilst offering support to persons with a variety of medically diagnosed conditions, which falls outside their scope of practice and unsafe. This places clients at an unnecessary risk if anything happens to them. In such a case, their insurance will not cover them, whilst restricting their scope of practice to just healthy eating advice and should not be working with persons with medically diagnosed conditions, prescribed medications, or offer personalised nutrition recommendations. Only a Registered dietician or a clinically-trained Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner like myself can do so. You should always ask these questions to any nutrition provider before working with any one to guarantee your safety.
MCI & ALZHEIMER’S IS PREVENTABLE
Research suggests that MCI and Alzheimer’s disease are now ‘optional diseases’, meaning that they are not a consequence of the normal aging process as we have been made to believe. Evidence quite strongly suggests that what we eat and how we live our lives (aka modifiable risk factors), irrespective whether or not you may have the Alzheimer’s gene or a family history of it, largely contributes to the development of cognitive decline. Evidence from recent clinical trials and a large body of supporting research, suggests that a personalised nutrition and lifestyle programme may prevent the development of these conditions if implemented up to 20-30 years preceeding a hypothetical diagnosis during the ‘prodromal period’.
ABOUT BRAINCOG
The BRAINCOG programme is based on the very latest nutrition and lifestyle science to prevent cognitive decline. BRAINCOG is a comprehensive personalised nutrition and lifestyle programme. By analysing your blood work, cognitive assessments, genetic predisposition, personal, health and medical history, your responses to the health questionnaires, BRAINCOG will help identify potential evidence-based triggers and mediators of MCI / Alzheimer’s and address them with nutrition and lifstyle using the functional medicine model (FMM). The FMM differs from conventional healthcare by addressing the underlying root causes of disease (instead of symptoms), whilst acknowlegding the uniqueness of each person’s genes and biochemical individuality, thus requiring distinct inteventions (not a one-size fits all approach).
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN BRAINCOG?
Research suggests that early screening and intervention, with or without frank mild cognitive decline, is essential to reduce the risks of developing MCI / Alzheimer’s and optimise cognitive function through life span. BRAINCOG is specifically intended for individuals aged 30 years and older who may be asymptomatic, showing subjective or clinically diagnosed cognitive decline, and/or interested in mantaining cognitive health, preventing further cognitive neurodegeneration, support brain health optimisation and/or improve cognitive function, with the help of a qualified clinically-trained nutrition profesisonal. Persons over 45 yrs old with strong risk factors such as carrying the Alzheimer’s risk genes, pre-diabetes/diabetes, chronically inflamed and/or diagnosed with some other underlying medical condition, are especially encouraged to participate asap.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM BRAINCOG?
BRAINCOG is designed to be fun, easy to follow at a comforable pace, personalised but with some compromises adapted to each individual’s capabilities. BRAINCOG gives you a unique and thorough professional evaluation of your past and current health as well potentially identify your root casues of your ill-heatlh and cognitive status. Also included is an MCI / Alzheimer’s orientated nutrition course to understand the essentials of preserving and improving cognitive function going forward. Although no guarantees can be made, by the end of the six or twelve months a number of improvements may be noticed. Depending on the persons’s initial cognitive health, medications, age, complexity of their underlying health condition(s), and assuming they have implemented the programme as strictly as possible, they may experience maintained or improved memory and cognitive function, improvements in anxiety, headaches, brain fog, stress resilience, and general mental wellbeing.
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (aka ‘the MoCA test’)
MoCA is a screening tool administered by certified healthcare professionals who have completed the official training, as first step to detect evidence of cognitive impairment. With proper administration, the MoCA test should accurately reflect your cognitive performance, but it is not designed to make a medical diagnosis, but rather as tool to support a diagnosis by a qualified, specialist medical professional. MoCA has been widely adopted in clinical settings and used in academic and non-academic research around the world. The sensitivity of MoCA for detecting MCI is 90%, compared to 18% for the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) test often used for detecting Alzheimer’s disease. ANDREW FORTUNA NT has achieved certification to administer MoCA. Two tests are conducted to assess the cognitive domains listed below: 1) when signing up to BrainCog, 2) and at six months, a further optional test can be conducted at twelve months.
COGNITIVE DOMAINS TESTED
1) Short term memory
Remembering new information
2)Visuospatial abilities
Drawing, remembering spatial relationship between items
3)Executive functions
Planning, problem solving
4)Attention, concentration & working memory
Multi-step tasks
5)Language
Use of appropriate words
6)Orientation to time and place
Remembering dates, current locations
BRAINCOG Fees
Discounts available
6 MONTHS
or £1650 by 30th Sept’24
- 8x 1hr consultations
- 3x 15min catch-up Zoom calls
- 1x BRAINCOG report
- 2x MoCA cognitive assessments
- Professional medical case history analysis
- MCI / Alzheimer’s Nutrition course
- Cognitive enhancement tools
- 1x Nature & wellness excursion 8-5pm
- Symptoms review & tracking
- Professional dietary analysis
- Personalised meal plans & recipes
- Web portal with resources
- Mobile app
- Ix iridology session
- Goal setting
- Mental reframing
- Unlimited lab test analysis & intepretation
- Referral letters for GP / other
- Food & mood journal
- Email support 24/7
- 10% off supplements (conditions apply)
- NOT INCLUDED
- Supplements, lab test fees (optional)
- DISCOUNTS
- £25 off fees if applying as couples OR
- £25 off fees for GFSB members*
- * proof of work & GFSB membership required
12 MONTHS
or £2500 by 30th Sept’24
- 12x 1hr consultations
- 6x 15min catch-up Zoom calls
- 2x BRAINCOG report
- 3x MoCA cognitive assessments
- Professional medical case history analysis
- MCI / Alzheimer’s Nutrition course (extended)
- Cognitive enhancement tools
- 2x Nature & wellness excursions 8-5pm
- Symptoms review & tracking
- Professional dietary analysis
- Personalised meal plans & recipes
- Web portal with resources
- Mobile app
- Ix iridology session
- Goal setting
- Mental reframing
- Unlimited lab test analysis & intepretation
- Referral letters for GP / other
- Food & mood journal
- Email support 24/7
- 10% off supplements (conditions apply)
- NOT INCLUDED
Supplements, lab tests (optional) - DISCOUNTS
- £25 off fees if applying as couples OR
- £25 off fees for GFSB members*
- * proof of work & GFSB membership required
