Viagra may help stop you getting Type 2 diabetes , a study suggests.

Researchers found the drug sildenafil - sold under Viagra and other trade names - boosts insulin sensitivity in people with pre-diabetes.

It also reduces a biological marker that can signal heightened risk of kidney and heart disease.

Insulin resistance precedes the development of Type 2 diabetes.

Research shows that without intervention as many as one in three people with pre-diabetes are likely to develop Type 2 diabetes within five years.

More than three million Brits have Type 2 diabetes.

Dr Nancy Brown, of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the US, said: “We need additional strategies to help slow the progression from pre-diabetes to diabetes.

“Weight loss and exercise regimens can be difficult to maintain, and some current medications have been limited by concerns about adverse effects.

“Sildenafil and related drugs could offer a potential avenue for addressing the rising number of diabetes diagnoses.”

The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, involved 51 overweight people with pre-diabetes being treated with either Viagra or a matching placebo for three months.

Researchers found those who were treated with Viagra were more sensitive to the effects of insulin - increasing their chances of warding off Type 2 diabetes.

PDr Brown added: “Because existing drug therapies to prevent Type 2 diabetes can have negative effects on the heart or be of limited use in patients with kidney disease, strategies to prevent diabetes without adversely affecting the risk of kidney and heart disease could have a large impact on public health.

“Further studies will be needed to determine whether long-term treatment with drugs like sildenafil can prevent the onset of diabetes in high-risk patients.”