A Letter From Steve Jobs

As I’ve said before, I’m neither a doctor nor an Apple shareholder, and there are few things more personal than one’s health. So I don’t like talking about Steve Jobs’ physical condition–especially when the only thing there is to write about is gossip. In fact, I don’t think I’ve written a single post that was principally about the subject.

But now Jobs has published a letter to the Apple community, and it addresses months of rumor about his weight loss and recent scuttlebutt that he opted out of giving tomorrow’s Macworld Expo keynote because he was too sick:

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

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.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I hope that the letter–which seems to acknowledge obliquely that he bowed out of Macworld Expo at least in part to concentrate on his health–stifles further rumors rather than spawning a flurry of new ones. Aren’t you glad that your weight isn’t the subject of an avalanche of speculation–some of it by people who apparently thought they knew more about Steve Jobs’ health than the man himself did?

[UPDATE: Here's a letter from Apple's board of directors, saying, bascially, that it'll tell the world if Jobs is unable to serve as CEO.]