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Steve Jobs Issues Update On His Health
i4u writes "Rumors about Steve Jobs' health have been flying high again after Apple announced that he will not be holding the keynote at the Macworld 2009. Today Steve Jobs issued a letter with a rather personal update on why he was losing weight in 2008. The reason for losing weight in 2008 is a hormone imbalance that has been reducing proteins. The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward according to Jobs.
Steve and his doctors predict that he will have normal weight again by Spring. So stop the rumors and enjoy Macworld 2009."
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Sure, if by "set up that failure" you mean "was forced out by that failure".
Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Law: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."
I haven't heard of anyone getting better from pancreatic cancer.
Now you have. A few minutes with Wikipedia reveals that "Jobs was lucky; he had an extremely rare form called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor that can be treated surgically, without radiation or chemotherapy." (From the Fortune article the Steve Jobs Wikipedia article links to.)
It's really dicey for non-experts (or, probably even experts) to make generalizations based on the common name of a cancer, without knowing exactly what variety of the disease it is, what stage it's at, and so on. Jobs has been (apparently) cancer-free since his surgery in July 2004.
A rare but treatable kind of pancreatic cancer, which he foolishly tried to treat by eating mostly raw vegetables, before having the operation. It's not much of speculation, it's a matter of record.
xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
Right, but he wasn't picked as a successor. Sculley was to run the day-to-day stuff, leaving Jobs to be the 'visionary leader' over the Macintosh project. Later, it was Sculley who forced Jobs out, mostly because Jobs was trying to basically set the Macintosh group up as totally independent from the rest of the company.
My blog
I was just reading the Pixar history book this weekend and reminded of Steve's eccentricities like two months almost solely ric macrobiotic diet; Atari putting him on the night shift because he smelled so bad ...
Well I'll be snookered... it's true!
http://wordsmith.org/anagram/anagram.cgi?anagram=hormone+imbalance&t=1000
Those who complain about affect & effect on
This is a well known complication of having pancreas surgery. Some patients need pancreatic enzymes supplements afterwards to process proteins.
This sort of thing should not be a "mystery" to Jobs' doctors as the press release says.
The Macintosh and the OS as separate parts or something else?
Prior to the Macintosh, and for some time after that, the Apple II series computers were the biggest-shipping product and profit center for Apple.
The idea that five years means cancer is "cured" is ridiculous. Yes, that's when you actually get to use the word, but it's completely meaningless. The relapse rate for some cancers dwindles to near zero after just two years (maybe less, I don't know about that many cancers) - some, there's a significant risk of recurrence for a long time. The five-year mark is just something they came up with long ago to make people feel better. So he's been cancer-free for 4.5 years - I'll have my next CT scan about 4.5 years after being declared in complete remission, and that is scheduled to be my last scan. My oncologist clearly isn't too worried about those last six months.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
Pancreatic Cancer has a 6% 5-year survival rate.
Again, this is pretty misleading unless you consider the specific cancer rather than "pancreatic cancer" as a generic. The statistic you cite is for "Estimated Five-year Relative Survival Ratio (%) (and 95% Confidence Interval) for the Most Common Cancers", and you read off the "pancreas" line. The specific case in question is not one of "the most common cancers" but (AFAICT) a different disease of the same organ.
Pancreatica.org has this to say about islet cell tumors:
Neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas (islet cell tumors) are much less common than tumors arising from the exocrine pancreas. Reports often indicate that there are about two to three thousand cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year
and
The natural history of islet cell and carcinoic tumors tends to be favorable as compared with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. For example, the median survival duration from the time of diagnosis for patients with non-functioning metastatic islet cell tumors approaches five years.
(Johns Hopkins agrees.)
The Pancreatica article says this compares to a median survival time of 15.5 months for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas ("pancreatic cancer") treated with the same surgery Jobs had.
"Sorry, but I can't believe the incredible amount of stupid comments posted here on this article. Jobs basically announces he's not dying and Apple's shares jump 4%"
What's even more amazing is that he didn't say he wasn't dying. He said he had a hormone imbalance. Also note the time required to regain the weight...
Press releases are often very important for what they don't say. But most people tend to miss the obvious. Certainly doesn't rule out the dying bit....