Fact Check: Can Cabbage leaf wraps help relieve arthritis?

Claim: An Instagram post on a social media site claims that Cabbage leaf wraps can help with various diseases, such as joint pain, inflammation, swelling, etc. One of the claims is that they can help relieve arthritis. The link to the post is here.

Fact Check:

The claim is half true.

What is arthritis?

According to WHO,” Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that causes inflammation around the body and commonly presents with pain in the joints.” (1) About one in four adults with arthritis—15 million people—report experiencing severe joint pain related to arthritis. Additionally, nearly half of adults with arthritis have persistent pain. (2)

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint condition. It causes pain, swelling and stiffness, affecting a person’s ability to move freely. Osteoarthritis affects the entire joint, including the tissues around it. It is most common in the knees, hips, spine and hands. Many factors can contribute to developing osteoarthritis. Some include a history of joint injury or overuse, older age and being overweight. It affects women more than men. Symptoms of osteoarthritis include pain, swelling, stiffness and trouble moving the affected joint. Due to reduced movement, muscles often lose strength, and people become less able to perform physical activities. Osteoarthritis can affect any joint but is most common in the knees, hips, spine and small joints in the hands. Muscles and tissue around the joint are often affected.

In 2019, about 528 million people worldwide were living with osteoarthritis, an increase of 113% since 1990. About 73% of people living with osteoarthritis are older than 55 years, and 60% are female (3)

Speaking to the Medical Dialogues team, Dr Anup Khatri, senior Consultant- Orthopedics, Global Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, explained, "Arthritis is a condition that affects the joints in your body, causing pain, swelling, and stiffness. There are different types of arthritis, but the most common ones are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis usually occurs as you get older, and it happens when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears down over time. This can happen due to ageing, injury, or overuse of a particular joint. Osteoarthritis commonly affects the knees and hips but can also affect the shoulder and foot. Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is an autoimmune disorder. This means that the immune system, which is supposed to protect your body, mistakenly attacks the tissues in your joints. The exact cause of this disease is unknown, but it is thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Factors like smoking, obesity, and infections can also increase the risk of developing arthritis. Other types of arthritis may be seen in individuals with high uric acid levels, psoriasis or with SLE."

How to prepare cabbage wraps?

Cabbage leaves are placed on a cutting board, and the stem is removed. The leaves are gently bruised to release juices. They are then layered around the knee or ankle, secured with bandages, and wrapped with cellophane to retain warmth and juices. They are left on for at least an hour or overnight if tolerated. They are unwrapped and discarded when cool.

CAN Cabbage leaves wrap cure joint pain?

Historically, there is some evidence about using cabbage leave wraps to manage pain. Crushed cabbage leaves were among Polish folk medicine's most widely used anti-inflammatory remedies. Cabbage, due to its specific properties, has been promoted in the natural medicine area mainly for rheumatic pain, vein and lymphatic vessel inflammation, bruises, sprains, mastitis or gastrointestinal problems (4)

The study by Lauche et al. suggests that cabbage leaf wraps (CLWs) may effectively reduce pain and improve various outcomes in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. It suggests that CLWs could be recommended as an option for knee OA patients, particularly those who prefer non-pharmacological approaches or cannot tolerate topical diclofenac gel. However, further research is needed to better understand the long-term effects and optimal use of CLWs in OA management (5) At the same time, there is no evidence that states that cabbage. 

Speaking to Medical Dialogues team Dr Daivik T Shetty orthopaedic surgeon at KMC hospital clarified " Several studies have clinically demonstrated that cabbage leaf application has shown improvements in reducing OA symptoms. It is not clear how much of the observed effects were actually due to non-specific effects such as expectation or placebo. Further research is warranted in this aspect. Cabbage leave bandages help reduce pain quotient in Moderate OA knee, probably due to its anti-inflammatory effect. But it does not help in treating OA knee. It Can be used as an inexpensive home remedy,"

Medical Dialogues Final take

While there is not a concrete studies, there is some evidence of the usefulness of cabbage leaf wraps specifically address their effectiveness in reducing symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, including pain and functional impairment. Having said that the evidence isn't broad enough to cover all types of arthritis in all joints. Hence, the claim of cabbage leaf wraps can help relieve arthritis is half true.

REFERENCES:

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rheumatoid-arthritis.

https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/pain/index.htm

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/osteoarthritis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8987499/#:~:text=Crushed%20cabbage%20leaves%20are%20one,sprains%2C%20mastitis%20or%20gastrointestinal%20problems.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26889617/.