On the left, Steve Jobs announcing the iPhone, January 2007. On the right, Steve Jobs announcing iPhone 2.0, June 2008.

Rich Karlgaard asks whether or not Jobs’ health is a private matter, as Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said on yesterday’s analyst call discussing Apple’s quarterly results. Karlgaard says:

A month ago, Apple claimed Jobs was suffering from “a common bug.” Now it has morphed from “common bug” to “private matter.” I don’t like the trajectory of this.

Weight loss from malabsorption is a common side effect of the surgery Jobs had in 2004 to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas; surgery that took place nine months after discovery of the tumor. Why nine months?

A Buddhist and vegetarian, the Apple CEO was skeptical of mainstream medicine. Jobs decided to employ alternative methods to treat his pancreatic cancer, hoping to avoid the operation through a special diet.