A new study has found that fretting over stressful events could trigger inflammation in one`s body.

The study found that levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of tissue inflammation, rose when participants were asked to ruminate on a stressful incident.

This is the first study to directly measure the effect of negative thought on the body.

Peggy Zoccola, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio University, US, the study`s lead author, said: "Much of the past work has looked at this in non-experimental designs."

"Researchers asked people to report their tendency to ruminate, and then looked to see if it connected to physiological issues. It`s been co-relational for the most part."

The study team recruited 34 healthy young women for the project.

The C-reactive protein is primarily produced by the liver as part of the immune system`s initial inflammatory response.

It is widely used as a clinical marker to determine if a patient has an infection, but also if he or she may be at risk for disease later in life.