In a statement, Mr. Jobs said that the cause of his weight loss had been a mystery to his medical team until just recently. “A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my number one priority,” he said. “Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause — a hormone imbalance that has been ‘robbing’ me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.”
He added that the treatment for his nutritional problem is simple, but that it will likely be some time in spring before he has regained the weight he lost.
Mr. Jobs also said in his open letter to the Apple community that he is still committed to his duties as Apple CEO, and that he will inform the company’s board of directors if he isn’t fit to do his job. “I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first,” he said.
Apple also issued its own statement about Mr. Jobs’s health. “It is widely recognized both inside and outside of Apple that Steve Jobs is one of the most talented and effective CEOs in the world. As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue to fulfill his duties as Apple’s CEO, you will know it,” the company said.
Rumors began circulating that Steve Jobs was suffering from serious and potentially terminal health issues following the announcement that he would not deliver Apple’s keynote presentation at Macworld Expo on January 6. The company also announced that it would not participate as a vendor at the expo after 2009.
Mr. Jobs was treated for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 where he was expected to make a full recovery. The illness, however, left many questioning whether or not he truly had recovered and was fit to run Apple. His current open letter will likely help reassure many that his tenure at Apple is not coming to an end, although his health will probably continue to be a hot topic whenever he is seen in public.