£9 million to discover how exercise prevents diabetes

A University-led project to establish scientific evidence on how exercise prevents weight gain, obesity and Type 2 Diabetes has been awarded nearly £9m by the European Commission, with £1m coming directly to the University.

The money will also start the long process of developing a drug which will mimic the beneficial effects of exercise for people who are unable to exercise themselves.

The project responds to the urgent problem of obesity, which has increased three-fold in the UK over the last twenty years. It is predicted that this will be followed by a large increase in Type 2 Diabetes which causes many chronic and debilitating health problems. Regular exercise and a balanced diet have long been thought of as the best path to avoid these problems, but researchers are now beginning to understand how exercise achieves this effect.

Professor Grahame Hardie of the School of Life Sciences, who is co-ordinating the project explains, "The link between exercise and prevention of Type 2 Diabetes is very convincing but is currently only a correlation, rather like the original evidence that smoking causes lung cancer. Once it is known exactly how exercise prevents the disease, we will be able to give people more rational advice about exercise and health, and also put more pressure on European governments to adopt policies that make it easier for people to increase their level of exercise."

"It may also be feasible to develop a drug that mimics the effects of exercise for those people who are unable to undertake it themselves. This could have great health benefits but it is some way in the future. It will take several years to develop a drug and test its safety."

Grahame is leading the five year research project with colleagues from 26 laboratories across 13 European countries and corporate partners including AstraZeneca and Unilever.