Red Cabbage: A Novel Treatment for Periductal Lactational Mastitis

Abstract

Lactational mastitis is a common condition in breastfeeding women that manifests as painful, swollen, and erythematous breasts. Customary treatment guidelines include antibiotics, cold compression, and continued breastfeeding. This report highlights a unique case in which the symptomatic progression of lactational mastitis was alleviated with the utilization of red cabbage and warm compresses. The study further investigates the potential benefits and role of red cabbage in treating mastitis infections to prevent unnecessary overuse of antibiotics and promote antibiotic stewardship practices.

Comparative Analysis of Antioxidant Activity, ROS, and Relative Water Content Between Red and Green Cabbage

“…Phytochemicals such as vitamin C, flavonoids, carotenoids, and other phenolics are the constituents that contribute to this property. Due to its antioxidant (Vega-Galvez et al 2023;Liang et al 2019) anti-inflammatory (Kasarello et al 2022), and antibacterial (Arrais et al 2022) properties, cabbage has widespread use in traditional medicine (Gruszecki et al 2022), in the alleviation of symptoms associated with gastrointestinal disorders (gastritis, peptic and duodenal ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome) as well as in the treatment of minor cuts and wounds and mastitis (Melim et al 2022;Abramowitz et al 2022;Tsania, Willy, and Sawitri 2023). Fresh cabbage juice, prepared either separately or mixed with other vegetables such as carrots and celery, is often included in many commercial weight-loss diets (Šamec et al 2011).…”