Since sphingomyelin is also a major component of fatty plaques that can build up in blood vessels, myriocin could be a potential treatment option for atherosclerosis. In fact, some studies have shown that myriocin can suppress the development of atherosclerosis in mice fed a high-fat diet.

Taking this idea one step further, Brett Garner and colleagues aimed to determine whether myriocin could suppress or even reverse pre-existing atherosclerotic lesions. Adult transgenic mice were fed a high-fat diet for 30 days to stimulate plaque formation, at which point the mice were transferred to either a regular diet or a diet containing myriocin.

The researchers then measured lesion size and found that myriocin significantly inhibited the progress of established atherosclerosis, which coincided with decreases in the concentration of sphingomyelin, cholesterol, and triglycerides in the blood. Although the researchers did not observe any shrinkage of lesions, myriocin still could offer therapeutic benefits to individuals with early-stage atherosclerosis.

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Type 2 diabetes which is commonly triggered by obesity can often be controlled with diet.

Experts say as many as one in four people with type 1 diabetes have few or no symptoms before an imminent attack meaning they cannot take action to prevent it and it is these 'unstable diabetics' who are at the greatest risk.

The teams at King's College Hospital and the Royal Free will isolate and harvest the cells from the donor organs and along with centres in Manchester, Newcastle and Bristol will offer the transplants to around 20 patients in the first year, and more after that.

A successful transplant demands more than 300,000 cells and patients can have up to two transplants.

The only other option for many for these patients is a transplant of the whole pancreas but complications can be life threatening and patients have to take immunosurpressant drugs for the rest of their lives which can increase the risk of infections and cancers.

Such a radical step is only contemplated in the most serious cases.

The Department of Health will invest up to 2.34 million in islet transplant services in the first year, increasing to 7.32 million a year.