研究：過度煩惱可引發炎症

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Worrying too much about stressful events can trigger inflammation, according to a new study.

Researchers found dwelling on negative events can increase levels of inflammation in the body.

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

The study is the first time to directly measure this effect in the body.

Study lead author Peggy Zoccola, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio University in the United States, said: 'Researchers have asked people to report their tendency to ruminate, and then looked to see if it connected to physiological issues. It's been correlational for the Most part.'

The research team recruited 34 healthy young women to participate in the project.

Each woman was asked to give a speech about her candidacy for a job to two interviewers in white laboratory coats, who listened with 'stone-faced' expressions.

Half of the group was asked to contemplate their performance in the public speaking task, while the other half was asked to think about neutral images and activities, such as sailing ships or grocery store trips.

The researchers drew blood samples that showed that the levels of C-reactive protein were significantly higher in the subjects who were asked to dwell on the speech.

For these participants, the levels of the inflammatory marker continued to rise for at least one hour after the speech.

During the same time period, the marker returned to starting levels in the subjects who had been asked to focus on other thoughts.

The C-reactive protein is primarily produced by the liver as part of the immune system's initial inflammatory response. It rises in response to traumas, injuries or infections in the body.

C-reactive protein 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.

Doctor Zoccola said: 'More and more, chronic inflammation is being associated with various disorders and conditions.

'The immune system plays an important role in various cardiovascular disorders such as heart disease, as well as cancer, dementia and autoimmune diseases.'一項新研究指出，爲一些讓人倍感壓力的事情過度煩惱可能會引發炎症。

研究人員發現，總是爲負面事情擔心會讓體內的炎症水平上升。

他們發現，當他們讓研究的參與者們反覆思考一件讓人倍感壓力的事情時，參與者體內的C反應蛋白水平會上升。C反應蛋白是人體組織炎症的一個標記。

該研究是首次對身體產生的這一反應直接進行測量。

該研究報告的第一作者、美國俄亥俄大學心理學助理教授佩吉•左可拉說：“研究人員讓人們報告她們陷入沉思的傾向性，然後研究這一傾向性是否與生理問題有關。結果表明這一傾向性可以和生理問題在很大程度上產生關聯。”

該研究團隊招募了34位健康的年輕女性來參與這一項目。

研究人員讓每名女性向兩個穿着實驗室白大褂的面試官陳述自己如何有資格勝任一份工作。這兩個考官聽取陳述時都是面無表情。

團隊中有一半人被要求在公開演講環節仔細考慮自己的表現，而另一半人則被要求想一些不會讓人產生情緒波動的圖像和活動，比如帆船或雜貨店之行。

研究人員採集了她們的血液樣本，樣本顯示，那些被要求認真思考演講表現的參與者體內的C反應蛋白水平要高得多。

在演講結束後至少一個小時，這些參與者體內標誌着炎症的蛋白水平依然持續上升。

而在此期間，那些被要求集中注意力想其他事情的參與者體內的C反應蛋白水平卻回到了起點。

C反應蛋白主要由肝臟產生，是免疫系統對炎症初步反應的一部分。在身體遭受外傷、損傷或感染時C反應蛋白水平會相應上升。

C反應蛋白被廣泛作爲確定病人是否被感染的一個臨牀指標，但也被用來預測病人日後患疾病的風險。