Doctors reveal the phrase that patients say which can nearly '100%' guarantee if they have a 'serious illness'

Daily Mail​

12-05-2025

Medical experts have revealed the phrase that always captures their attention - and indicates that something could be seriously wrong with their patient.
One doctor shared the 'clinical pearl' on the popular Reddit forum Medicine - where physicians and other medical professionals virtually meet to discuss all things health.
And it prompted a host of affirmative responses from other GPs, who also swear by the phrase.
'If your male patient says "I feel fine but my wife made me come in", it has a positive predictive value for serious illness that is close to 100 per cent,' the post reads.
Although somewhat jokey in tone, the message nonetheless struck home for other clinicians, who agreed that the phrase indicates illness 'every time'.
It points to a trend apparently observed by medical experts whereby the patients who feel the healthiest, and who therefore avoid doctors, may often have the worst issues owing to self-neglect.
And in the case of males, their wives have a sense of intuition about their partners that should not be ignored, according to the experts.
Other GPs offered similar nuggets of wisdom. One said: 'Along the same lines: beware the sweet little old lady who "doesn't want to be a bother, but..."'
Clearly not a new phenomenon, another commenter responded: 'I once took a phone consultation from an old lady with hours of chest pain. She said she just didn't want us to worry…'
Many medics wrote that when a patient has been referred by a loved one who feels they are 'off' or 'not quite right', then their unease can be a powerful indicator of real issues.
'Last week was the last time I questioned a mothers intuition,' one commented. 'She said her college-aged child with no preexisting conditions just seemed to be off.
'The child showed no signs of depression or suicidal ideation and, just as we were about to discharge them, he had a stroke.'
In response to the original post, one medic said the phrase indicates ill health 'every time', with 'MI [myocardial infarction] and cancer being the most common diagnoses, in my experience.'
Several readers chimed in with their own take on caution phrases that immediately raise alarm bells.
'The "no past medical history" usually means "I have not sought advice from any healthcare professional in 25 years",' said one.
Another added: 'It always amazed me when male patients would brag about not having seen a doctor or had any lab work in decades. It probably doesn't mean you're a healthy young buck, sir.'
'I've actually gotten, "My wife says I have chest pain" before,' one wrote.
'The other day I had a guy come in with his thumb clean cut right off through the bone at the proximal aspect of the distal phalanx,' one medic wrote.
'He was being an a** and not letting us do anything, so we asked him why did he even come in? His wife made him. He said it would heal on its own.'