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Steve Jobs Panic - new low reached (in reporting, anyway)...

Here's something easy to believe: "Doctors who have not treated Jobs say they can only speculate without hard information." Erm, no shit, Sherlock!

So, naturally, they are speculating. We are accustomed to this. In the final stages of the American presidential election, McCain's health was described (by "doctors who haven't treated him" as "almost certainly he's going to die" by reputable medics.

Steve Jobs is, of course, something of a mystery to the world, and his health is a fascinating subject. As NewsWireless columnist Wendy Grossman wrote Friday "Jobs isn't just a private individual, and he isn't an average CEO, either..."

But, really, when you read a headline like "Steve Jobs' cancer may have recurred, doctors say..." you expect to be given real information. And when you read the story, and you find that they aren't even hinting at real information, you do have to ask yourself, "What's going on, here?"

Well, more than you might think. Here's the meat of the story:

"Pancreatic cancer experts say they are puzzled by what is ailing Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs, because it is not clear how serious his health problems are or how directly they relate to his bout with cancer.

Last week, Jobs said he had an easily treatable "hormonal imbalance" that was robbing his body of the proteins it needs. Then, on Wednesday (Jan. 14), the 53-year-old CEO said his problems were "more complex" than originally thought, and he would take a medical leave of absence for six months."

And so, what do we know? Well, it's EETimes, a heavyweight publisher, renowned for knowing something the rest of us don't. So it's reasonable to sit back with the printout, expecting to read an in-depth analysis.

Summarising, the type of cancer Jobs had, is one which recurs "In more than half" of patients, say tumour experts. So: Jobs very probably has a recurrence? Well, yes. But then again, recurrence is normally a much less serious problem:

"His drastic weight loss could have other, less ominous explanations, doctors said. Jobs' surgery in 2004 is likely to have been the so-called Whipple procedure —an extensive and complicated operation that involves several organs besides the pancreas... weight loss is a common side effect, since a partial pancreas may not be able to effectively aid in the digestion."

And the recurrence normally doesn't require more surgery.  Except, the same doctors think that if Jobs wasn't going to have surgery, then he wouldn't need six months off. And it's six months that he's taking off.

From that, they deduce that he is having surgery, that it's risky, and that we should probably worry. Which means, of course, that we all have to write, and read, more Jobs Loss stories.