Loss of this sensitivity to insulin which leads to an increase in glucose levels in the blood, preventing it being used by the tissues, is the main case of Type 2 diabetes. This is the main type of adult-onset diabetes.

Improving the sensitivity to insulin should help to reduce the onset of this type of diabetes and lower the risk of heart attack, strokes and other circulatory problems.

SHORT bursts of intense exercise every few days could dramatically cut the risk of diabetes and heart disease, a professor says. Rather than slaving away for hours in the gym, people should focus their attention on quick "sprints" on an exercise bike, with each workout lasting just a few minutes.

James Timmons, professor of exercise biology at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, has published a study on the effects of quick exercise. He said people could reduce their risk of diabetes and heart disease substantially with short, intense workouts - such "time efficient" exercising appealing to busy workers.

In his study, published in the journal BMC Endocrine Disorders, 16 men exercised three times a week for two weeks. Each session was made up of four 30-second sprints on an exercise bike. This involved the men going as fast as they could for 30 seconds and then taking a few minutes of complete rest between each sprint. After two weeks, Prof Timmons said, the results were "substantial", with a 23% improvement in insulin function.

While his research focused on young men, Prof Timmons said it would work for people of all ages and for both men and women. He said:

"This study looked at the way we break down stores of glycogen. "Think about diabetes as being glucose circulating in the blood rather than stored in the muscles where it should be.

"If we take out the glycogen from the muscles through exercise, then the muscles draw in that excess glucose from the blood. "If you go for a jog or a run, you oxidise glycogen, but you are not depleting the glycogen in your muscles. "The only way to get to this glycogen is through very intense contractions of the muscles.

"If we can get people in their 20s, 30s and 40s doing these exercises twice a week, then it could have a very dramatic effect on the future prevalence of diabetes."