Could Jobs hormonal imbalance be related to his 2004 surgery to remove the pancreatic tumor?
It’s possible. But exactly what that surgery involved — such as how much of the pancreas was removed — hasn’t been made public; all Jobs has said about it in the past is that he was “fine” after the operation. “The more of the pancreas that’s taken out in surgery, the more likelihood of developing a hormonal problem,” says Jay Marks, MD, an associate clinical professor of medicine at UCLA who contributes to MedicineNet, which is part of the WebMD network. Because of his previous pancreatic cancer and treatment, Jobs may be low on pancreatic enzymes, and fixing that would mean taking pancreatic enzyme supplements with meals. And if he doesn’t do that or is on a dose that’s too low, that could hinder his digestion and lead to weight loss, explains Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society.
