Although many people notice they are more susceptible to becoming sick when they are under stress, researchers have for the first time found a way to predict the likelihood someone will get sick.

Their findings, published Wednesday in Omics: A Journal of Integrative Biology, explains why some people become sick when exposed to viruses or bacteria and others don't.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) on Wednesday announced they had uncovered signs of stress in proteins and other compounds found in blood that can help predict disease susceptibility.

Scientists studying cattle found "biomarkers" from changes made in blood compounds by psychological and physical stressors. In turn, those biomarkers can then be used to predict disease outcomes, they said in a statement.

"Our results could someday enable doctors or veterinarians to predict whether a disease will develop and how severe it might be from a body fluid sample such as blood," principal investigator Palok Aich said in the statement. "These findings will help improve treatment plans for possible disease outcomes."

Aich said that this study helps clarify how the stress level of an individual affects the infection process and disease severity.