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."

Comments

News because

[Kamokazi]

from the can't-believe-this-is-news dept

When many people believe that the continued success of a large company depends on one individual, his health becomes news.

Re:News because

[Roland Piquepaille]

When many people believe that the continued success of a large company depends on one individual, his health becomes news.

That's because in Apple's case, it's more than a belief. Apple's success does depend on Steve Jobs, strangely enough. Remember John Sculley?

Re:News because

[je ne sais quoi]

When many people believe that the continued success of a large company depends on one individual, his health becomes news.

And this is all the more reason for Mr. Jobs to stop giving the keynote. Apple needs to break this perception that Mr. Jobs is Apple. He can't go on working there forever, and if they want to survive once he retires, they need to get him to take a back seat for awhile so the ninny-headed stock holders stop believing the sky is falling every time Mr. Jobs gets a cold.

Incidentally, it's not surprising that Mr. Jobs might have this happen, a lot of people as they get older have thyroid or other changes that cause them to gain or lose weight. E.g. Bush Sr. had that thyroid operation when he was president because it was becoming overactive IIRC.

Re:News because

[morgan_greywolf]

Sculley had the the thing running into the ground well before Spindler came along to piss on Apple's fresh grave. Amelio, believe it or not, was relatively good for Apple -- it was through his efforts that Apple bought NeXT and brought Jobs on board.

Re:News because

[Roland Piquepaille]

He's a catalyst. He's not arguably good at anything that's directly useful to development, sales or marketing, but he fires employees and customers up. You could say he's the soul of his company.

My boss is like that: he doesn't know much about the products we make and how they're made, nor is he particularly good at promoting or selling them, but he could convince you to put on suntan lotion in the middle of a blizzard storm.

Re:News because

[rishistar]

yea, they need someone who has the hormones of a 13 year old girl to buy their products!

There, fixed that for you.

Re:News because

[MPAB]

And, FYI, that's exactly the kind of people that make the big money while us nerds look startled at their sheer ignorance and evident feeble reasoning.

Re:News because

[mjwx]

And, FYI, that's exactly the kind of people that make the big money while us nerds look startled at their sheer ignorance and evident feeble reasoning.

Speak for yourself, I for one am capable of seeing through a cult of personality, so are most technically inclined people. Its those who don't have the intelligence and/or discipline to learn that become enamoured with an image or personality.

get well soon!

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't own any mac products or anything like that - but get well soon Steve!

Re:Should I sell my Apple shares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Heh, that would be no surprise. Though ya'd think that a man like Steve could afford more modern sex change therapies.

Steve Jobs: "Hey, since I've had cancer, maybe it would be a good idea to starve my body of precious amino acids and other nutrients! Wow, this new-age voodoo stuff sure does work wonders, I've lost 50 pounds in 2 months and I haven't taken a shit in 2 years! How neat!"

Remember, folks. This is the kind of shit that happens to you when you do stupid shit like turn to Scientology for medical advice. I hate to see a good man ruin himself, but he's really asking for it.

Re:Hey Steve... how about a little

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Being that he had pancreatic cancer, he's probably on a special diet. A fatty diet causes a pancreas much grief.

He's dying and we all know it

[mlwmohawk]

Seriously, why does someone issue a letter that says, "no, really I am healthy." He is a very wealthy man, surely he can avoid the sorts of doctors that would be able to be able to figure out his problem.

Re:Should I sell my Apple shares?

[Johnny_Longtorso]

...perhaps he'll demo the iVagina?

Re:Steve?

[Thanshin]

dad?

Don't you mean "father"?

"male parental unit" would be acceptable too.

Jobs != SinglePointOfFailure

[Junior J. Junior III]

If Apple's doomed the minute Jobs is no longer running the helm, you might as well start running like hell as far away as you can from Apple right now. Jobs is a mortal, and will not be around forever. Find a company or product that will not immediately collapse when its founder dies or retires.

Do you *really* want to be running on something with a future that uncertain? I for one don't believe that Apple's on that shakey ground, but for those who do believe that, if they're still running on Apple, they're crazy.

Re:Jobs != SinglePointOfFailure

[morgan_greywolf]

Find a company or product that will not immediately collapse when its founder dies or retires.

Except that there was a long period of time between about 1985 and 1998 or so that Jobs was no longer associated with Apple. That's what? Almost 15 years?

Apple didn't immediately collapse and the Macintosh line existed and was largely successful in niche markets without Jobs.

No, Apple doesn't need Jobs, but I think that without Jobs, Apple would lose its sense of direction.

Re:Any doctors reading this?

[shellac]

I am a physician and I have actually performed a few Whipple procedures in my training. I can say that upon reading this letter, I immediately smelled big-time BS.

There are some treatable medical causes of cachexia (profound weight loss) but they are not difficult to diagnosis. If he had pancreatic insufficiency following his pancreas resection, this should have been quickly noted because it is common and his newfound symptoms of diabetes are easily recognized.

Hyperthyroidism is another cause of weight loss, but any doctor worth his salt would have screened for this right away. Celiac disease is another possibility but again this is not a difficult diagnosis because of the GI symptoms (lots of diarrhea).

The most likely cause of weight loss in this setting is cancer, cancer, and cancer. It can sometimes be very difficult to find where exactly the cancer metastases have recurred, and this can delay the proper diagnosis.

The main thing that Jobs has going for him is that this weight loss was first publicly noted some time ago now, and he does not have other signs of cancer that we know of. Jobs does not seem to be the type to hide it if he knew he had cancer. At least, he didn't hide it the first time, right?

shellac.

Re:What is weird is...

[CODiNE]

Wow... Steve Ballmer is the Kingpin.

Re:Hey Steve... how about a little

[bugs2squash]

I hope he goes on to enjoy a long and happy old age.

Grow up.

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctors, like IT folk, mechanics and theological students are nothing more than educated folk in a specific area. They hear a situation, give their opinion and try and suggest a solution. Want a "good" one? Find one with a quality practice in place and word of mouth recommendations. You'll find out the 'good' ones require you to pay.

Of course, it always "depends" on the specific cases and there are reasons why advice from a lawyer or doctor differ than they do with IT people. The difference is risk!

I'm tired of the IANAL warnings. Free advice is worth every penny you pay for it but it is nice to see someone throwing out an idea or two with a background.

I saw my mother as she lost weight and died of cancer, I think Jobs is dying too. He can lie if he wants, or legally speaking, shift the blame to some other nebulous medical reason. He'll probably be dead within six months. I hate to see him go but he's lying and that isn't fair to the stock holders or employees. His approach, or the board's approach, makes Apple scum in my eyes.

Taking the bait

[shellac]

I shouldn't reply to this ridiculous posting, which implies that somehow because I am both a doctor and a geek I am not allowed to have an opinion on a media report on a medical issue. But fine, I will take the bait.

I am not Steve Jobs' doctor and I am not trying to be. The OP solicited a doctor's opinion and I gave mine with the little information I could guess at from a media report.

COMMON SENSE would dictate that I am not making an ironclad diagnosis from a media report, but apparently it is because of people such as yourself, who are lacking in this capacity, that people have to post disclaimers at the bottom of their comments and email or whatever that they are only giving their opinion and not a professional service.

Before I posted my earlier message I had a discussion about the media report with one of my colleagues. It would seem then that you would prefer doctors to keep such talk to ourselves. You are quite free to block my comments or refrain from reading them from now on.

shellac.

Re:Hey Steve... how about a little

[porcupine8]

Trust me, once you've heard the words "It's cancer," suddenly the words "it's a type with a very high survival rate" make you feel incredibly lucky.

Re:Any doctors reading this?

[bill_mcgonigle]

From what I've read in various places, consulting doctors for health advice isn't his primary strategy. I've heard the Whipple was only after everything else (quirky diets, 'alternative' healers) failed. Though I suppose there must have been some testing in there to have a diagnosis in the first place.

I don't know what's going on, I'm just pointing out that the doctors you presume are there may not be (at least regularly), nor would they necessarily have a good patient.

Re:Guesswork at its best...

[gnasher719]

One thing to consider: If someone has survived a treatable form of pancreatic cancer, then it is quite possible that three years later they suffer from a completely unrelated illness. And if a dozen doctors all say "the guy had pancreatic cancer, and now how he has weight loss, so how does pancreatic cancer cause weight loss" they might completely miss the fact that one doesn't have anything to do with the other. So when you asked

Is this malnutrition or cancer-related cachexia

then maybe it is neither?