Steve Jobs, in a letter to the Apple Community, explained his reasons for not attending Macworld 2009 and addressed his health in the face of rumors on that topic.

On why he will not be attending Macworld:

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

On his health:

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my 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.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

This release was followed up by a statement from Apple's Board of Directors. In short, "As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue to fulfill his duties as Apple’s CEO, you will know it."

Gizmodo had reported that Steve Jobs health was "rapidly decling" and this set of a firestorm of events in the blogosphere. CNBC's Jim Goldman contacted Apple who confirmed their earlier statement regarding the companies decision to forgoe future Macworld events, saying "if ever Steve or the board of directors decided that he was no longer capable of doing his job as CEO of Apple, I'm sure they will let you know."

Macworld takes place this week, with Phil Schiller taking over keynote duties tomorrow at 12:00 pm EST.