MANHASSET, N.Y., Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A U.S. study suggested a component of green tea might be useful in treating severe sepsis -- an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection.

Haichao Wang and colleagues at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research studied the therapeutic effects of dozens of Chinese herbal compounds in reversing sepsis, which kills 225,000 people in the United States annually.

In a mouse study, the scientists found a green tea extract -- EGCG -- caused survival rates of mice suffering sepsis increased from 53 percent in those not receiving EGCG to 82 percent in those that did.

"Clinically, even if we could save 5 percent of patients, that would be huge," said Wang. "In this study, we saved 25 percent more animals with the green tea."The researchers said their findings could pave the way for clinical trials.

The study, conducted in collaboration with Wei Li and Dr. Andrew Sama chairman of emergency medicine at North Shore University Hospital, appears in the online journal PLoS One.

Simply put 3 grams (approximately one teaspoon) of loose Green Tea into a ceramic cup (6 ounces to 8 ounces) or inside the ceramic filter of the cup if there is one. Then pour freshly boiling water (for best results please use water at the temperature of 80 degrees Celsius or 170 degree Fahrenheit) into your ceramic cup. Put a cover on top of the cup, and let it sit for 3 minutes.

Appreciation of Green Tea is not limited to the taste of drinking. You can use your other senses as well. When you open the cover of the cup, smell the tea first to enjoy its pleasant aroma. Then take a look at the bright green color of the tea and you will find the leaves gently unfolding in your cup. Allow yourself to relax and slowly sip your first taste of the tea. Let it roll down your tongue and savor the subtle scent of the sweet grass. Slowly, you will enjoy every sip of your Green Tea.

When one third of the tea is all that is left in the cup, you can add more hot water. You can repeat the above procedure with the same loose Green Tea leaves up to three times or more.