The world lost a visionary today. Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple, died today; he was 56. Although no details about his cause of death have been released, Jobs endured a long battle with pancreatic cancer, one of the most difficult cancers to treat.

According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly 43,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the U.S. alone. It has one of the lowest five-year survival rates of all cancers, and survivor prognoses have changed little to none over the last 30 years. (How unacceptable is that?!) Known pancreatic cancer risk factors include smoking, diabetes, family history, chronic pancreatitis, and obesity. Researchers are studying other possible risk factors, as well, as the cause is still uncertain. There are no early signs of pancreatic cancer, but as a pancreatic tumor grows, the most common symptoms are jaundice, dark urine, pale stools, stools that float in the toilet*, nausea and vomiting, and/or unrelieved upper abdominal or mid-back pain. Despite its typically poor prognosis, there are wonderful organizations, such as PanCAN, providing hope, support, and dedicated research dollars to learning more about the disease and finding a cure.

There is no doubt Jobs left a lasting impact on the world. We will miss you, Steve. We will miss you.

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* Stools that float in the toilet may occur occasionally due to changes in diet, but changes in stool may be a sign of malabsorption of nutrients and should be reported to a healthcare professional. Any changes in stool should be reported to a healthcare professional.