Steve Jobs' latest health statement is contradictory and makes little sense, according to an expert who says it could mean Jobs has anything from hyperthyroidism to a new form of cancer.

There are three medical threads running through the statement, said Robert Lustig, a prominent neuroendocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco — and they "don't add up to a very strong cable."

On Monday morning, shortly before MacWorld 2009 — which, until he canceled, was scheduled to feature Jobs as keynote speaker — opened in San Francisco, the Apple CEO released an official statement about the ongoing weight loss that has left him gaunt and panicked his company's investors.

"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 wrote. "The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already started treatment."

His words set off an avalanche of speculation, ranging from knee-jerk skepticism — "'Hormone imbalance'? Please. Sorry, not buying it" — to thoughtful analyses of his 2004 pancreatic tumor removal or possible thyroid disorders.

Common to all, however, is a paucity of meaningful detail. "His email is specifically vague, and I'm sure it's meant to be," Lustig said. "He doesn't want us to know what's going on."

The first thread, said Lustig, is the hormone imbalance, suggesting an endocrine problem. Second is Jobs' loss of protein. He doesn't attribute this to loss by urination, which would suggest a plasma-cell cancer called multiple myeloma, or loss by defecation, which would implicate his pancreatic cancer history.

If Jobs' weight loss were related to the latter, Lustig said, he would likely display other symptoms, including severe flushing and massive diarrhea, which have not yet been described.

The third thread is the "straightforward" remedy for his

"nutritional problem." According to Lustig, that conflicts with the rest of Jobs' statement. "Endocrine problems are not nutritional, and vice versa," he said.

"Hyperthyroidism can cause weight loss. Endocrine deficiency could cause weight loss. But they don't rob your body of proteins, and the remedies aren't nutritional." Neither would nutrition suffice to treat cancer.

"There's no way to put these threads together," said Lustig, though he refused to rule out a cancer-related complication. "It's not possible to dismiss anything in terms of this," he said, and called speculation "very silly."

Dong Chan and Monica Skarulis, endocrinologists at the National

Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, agreed with

Lustig's assessment of Jobs' statement as insufficiently detailed to merit speculation.

"I have no knowledge of his condition," said Chan, "and will not comment."

Asked whether armchair diagnoses are reasonable or productive, Skarulis replied, "Unfortunately, no. There are so many processes that lead to the final common pathway of weight loss, and the metabolic processes (hormonal and otherwise) that lead to [nutrient breakdown] are complicated. Need more data!"

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*Image: flickr/Ben Stanfield

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