Latest news with #seriousillness
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Doctors say when they hear this 10-word sentence, it's a 'hidden' red flag - have YOU ever said it?
A simple ten word sentence uttered by patients may be one of the clearest warning signs they are suffering a 'serious illness', medics have claimed. Doctors have taken to social media to reveal the 'clinical pearl' that can nearly 100 per cent guarantee a serious illness—from heart attacks to cancer. According to doctors, the sentence 'I feel fine, but my wife made me come in', is one of the most accurate predictive markers of something being seriously wrong. Dr Sam Ghali, a US-based emergency medic, who has over 650,000 followers on X, said that this common phrase 'is an indication that something is really f****** wrong until proven otherwise.' 'Trust me on this one', he added. Commenting on the post, other doctors added other 'giveaway' phrases that they believe are red flags for serious health conditions. In thread on the original post on Reddit, one doctor said: 'Along the same lines, beware the sweet old lady who "Doesn't want to be a bother, but...".' Agreeing that hearing a patient say this phrase is a major cause for concern, another doctor said: 'I once took a phone consultation in GP from an old lady with hours of chest pain. She said she just didn't want us to worry...' Another indication of a serious illness or medical emergency is 'a mother's intuition', doctors claimed on Reddit. 'Last week was the last time I questioned a mother's intuition', one professional said. 'She said her college-aged child with no pre-existing conditions just seemed to be off. Her child showed no signs of depression or suicidal ideation and just as we were about to discharge them he stroked,' the doctor added. It comes just days after a coroner found a baby who died at just three days old would have survived if medics hadn't ignored the multiple warning signs she was in distress in the hours before her tragic death. Dan Russo and his pregnant wife Bryony begged for a caesarean section to be carried out when they arrived at the maternity unit as they knew something was wrong. But, staff 'laughed off' their concerns and ignored the mother's intuition, despite red flags including scans showing an abnormal foetal heart rate. Baby Emmy was not breathing when she was finally born by emergency C-section 11 hours after the couple turned up at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex. She died in her father's arms three days later at the neonatal intensive care unit of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where she had been transferred for urgent care. Speaking after an the inquest, Mr Russo said: 'We are completely broken by the loss of our beautiful baby girl, Emmy. 'She was our child, so loved, so wanted, and we will never understand where things went so tragically wrong. 'We did everything that we were told, we followed the advice we were given. But deep down we knew something wasn't right. We voiced our concerns again and again but we were dismissed.' Addressing the hospital staff directly, he added: 'I shook the hands of the people that played a part in the death of my daughter. 'If you had done your job properly and noticed what everyone else had noticed, our daughter would be with us today.'
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Doctors reveal the phrase that patients say which can nearly '100%' guarantee if they have a 'serious illness'
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.'
