7 minutes of exercise reduces diabetes risk

A study carried out by scientists at Heriot-Watt University suggests that as little as seven minutes of high impact exercise a week can significantly reduce the risk of contracting diabetes.

The prevalence of type two diabetes is rapidly increasing around the world. Some 2.3 million people in the UK are already diagnosed and the charity, Diabetes UK, estimates the number of diagnosed and "hidden" diabetics will top 4 million by 2025.

As well as the impact on quality of life and the threat to life there is the economic cost; last year treatment for diabetes and its complications cost the NHS £9bn.

Previous research has established the benefits of aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging or cycling, and weight training exercise – both help to keep glucose levels down. The advice to those at risk has been to do a lot of exercise and to keep doing it.

Professor James Timmons, who led the study, believes its results could offer a novel, time-efficient strategy for those who find it hard to stick to the government guidelines of 30 minutes of moderate activity five times a week.

“What we have found is that doing a few intense muscle exercises, each lasting only about 30 seconds, dramatically improves your metabolism in just two weeks. The improvements in metabolism we measured are known to be critical for reducing your chance of getting diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the future."

25 healthy, but physically inactive men took part in short cycling and sprint training sessions, and afterwards their bodies were dramatically better at processing a glucose drink they were given after the training session.

It appears that the insulin that they produced worked much more efficiently and that the excess glucose was removed from the blood stream much more rapidly.

Professor Timmons adds: "What is often not appreciated is that cardiovascular disease processes begin early in life, while diabetes is one of the biggest risk factors. What our study shows is that by doing the right type of training, intensive for very short periods, it is plausible for young and most probably middle aged adults to reduce their future risk for developing diabetes.”

The scientists at Heriot-Watt propose that their research be expanded upon to include middle aged individuals and those who already have diabetes.

The study is published in the latest edition of the journal BMC Endocrine Disorders.