Apple's Leading Man Finally Tells The World What's Biting Him

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday January 7, 2009

Stephen Hutcheon in San Francisco

THE most famous pancreas in America is the one belonging to Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple.

Even though the "p" word was not mentioned in a statement he released on Monday, Mr Jobs's memo about his weight loss has set off a chain reaction of interest in all things pancreatic. The Apple co-founder, 53, underwent surgery in 2004 to remove a malignant tumour in his pancreas, an organ responsible for producing hormones and enzymes vital to the digestive and metabolic system. In his "letter" to the Apple community, Mr Jobs tried to quell speculation about his health by ascribing his physical condition to a "hormone imbalance" that is "robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy".

Without going into detail, he said the remedy for what he described as a nutritional problem was "relatively simple and straightforward" and he expected the imbalance to be fixed in the next few months.

Mr Jobs is a notoriously private man despite his leading role in the technology and entertainment worlds, the latter through a board seat at Disney, where he is the largest individual shareholder. He ended his letter: "So now I've said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this."

Bloomberg reported that Dr Simon Lo, director of the pancreas diseases program at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, had suggested that Mr Jobs might be suffering from a digestive condition known as dumping syndrome, affecting the stomach, pancreas, bile duct and small intestine.

Stephen Hutcheon travelled to San Francisco as a guest of Apple.

© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

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