Dubai kung fu master kicks diabetes thanks to drastic weight loss


Nick Webster
  • English
  • Arabic

A martial arts instructor is free from diabetes just three months after being given the shock diagnosis as he recovered from Covid-19.

Austrian John Duval, 41, weighed 137kg but thought he lived a healthy, active life until he was struck down and admitted to hospital with the virus in November.

It was then doctors discovered Mr Duval, who lives in Dubai,  had type 2 diabetes.

Thanks to a strict healthy eating and exercise regime that led to him shedding 31kg, he is now in remission, just three months after the diagnosis.

The use of data to understand our patient's health allows us to  prescribe care more effectively

“Without having Covid-19, I would not have known I had diabetes, it was a big surprise,” said Mr Duval, who teaches kung fu at Golden Eagle Martial Arts in Dubai.

“I thought I was super healthy, I trained regularly and tried to eat well.

“When doctors told me I had the disease, I thought it was impossible. They said my sugar level was over 400 and put me on insulin three times a day.

“I was allowed home after two negative PCR tests and I was referred to a diabetic doctor who prescribed special medication.”

While type 2 diabetes has no cure, it can be reversed through dietary changes and weight loss.

It allows people with the disease to reach and maintain normal blood sugar levels, without the need for medication, allowing people to live a normal, healthy life.

John Duval is a martial arts expert. Chris Whiteoak / The National
John Duval is a martial arts expert. Chris Whiteoak / The National

On leaving hospital, Mr Duval signed up to a monitoring and treatment programme with diabetes centre GluCare and uses Digital Therapeutics to check his blood sugar levels, dietary intake and exercise.

The Dubai company’s management plan includes a comprehensive assessment and biometric wearable devices to monitor how a patient responds to certain foods.

Users are sent reminders and updates on their health status by trained professionals who remotely monitor the patient’s diabetic status.

“It made me super aware of what I was eating,” Mr Duval said.

“I cut out a lot of foods, including all carbohydrates like rice, pasta and bread.

“I swapped them for lentils and chia seeds, and drank lots of tea and a minimum of three litres of water a day.

“It felt like I was back in school, but I lost 31 kilograms in total.”

Mr Duval now weighs 106kg.

The World Health Organisation estimates 422 million people have diabetes, with 1.6 million deaths directly attributed to the condition each year.

It also expects the disease to increase across the region to affect more than 42 million people by 2030.

Currently, there are about 1.2 million people living with diabetes in the UAE, placing it 15th on a league table of international prevalence.

GluCare’s managing director and co-founder, Dr Ihsan AlMarzooqi, said tailor-made diabetes management programmes could reduce the huge costs associated with long-term care.

“The cost of diabetes is enormous,” he said. “Not only at a societal and economic level, but fundamentally on an individual level.

“While technology is at the core of what we do, it is the application and use of it that allows us to connect with our patients in a more meaningful, impactful and supportive way.

“The use of data to understand our patient’s health allows us to be more present with them in-clinic and prescribe care more effectively.”

Abu Dhabi GP schedule

Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm

Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm

Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Nations League

League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

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1.

United States

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China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

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Norway

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Canada

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Singapore

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Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 = between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 = grade C
  • Grade 3 = between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Du Plessis plans his retirement

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years' time will be his last.

Du Plessis, 34, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside.

"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday. 

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