Weight Loss as a Long-Term Effect of the Whipple Procedure

Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt on the long-term effects of the Whipple procedure, the complicated surgery Steve Jobs had in 2004 to remove a tumor from his pancreas:

Along with the digestive problems, patients often lose 5% to 10% of their body weight after the procedure. Weight stabilizes within the first year or two for the vast majority of patients, says Dr. Dilip Parekh, chief of tumor and endocrine surgery at the University of Southern California, who has performed more than 100 Whipple procedures. “There is a small group of people who tend to have persistent problems with weight loss and loss of energy and you often you are not able to pinpoint why,” he says. “But if they stay active and manage their nutrition well, there is no reason for them not to live a normal life.”

★ Monday, 16 June 2008