Senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, who is currently in the Enforcement Directorate custody in the INXMedia money laundering case, has been suffering from chronic Crohn's diseaseand needs immediate specialized treatment at a super specialty hospital,sources close to him said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources told PTIhere on Tuesday that it would be good if Chidambaram was immediately referredto some super specialty hospital for treatment, considering his poor health.

Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease thatmay affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to theanus. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody ifinflammation is severe), fever, and weight loss.

Bowel obstruction may also occur as a complication ofchronic inflammation. Diagnosis is based on a number of findings includingbiopsy and appearance of the bowel wall, medical imaging and description of thedisease.On Monday, Chidambaram was brought to RML Hospital in the morning andlater referred to AIIMS after he complained of stomach ache and illness. He wasdischarged in night.

A few days ago, when Chidambaram's bail petition came up forhearing in the Supreme Court, his lawyer Kapil Sibal informed the court thatthe Congress leader had lost five kg weight in Tihar Jail, where he had beenlodged while in judicial custody.

"Chidambaram has lost weight from 73 kg to 68 kg,"Sibal had told the court then.The former minister, who was arrested by the CBIin the same case on August 21, had been in jail since September 6 this year andis now in ED custody. He has been kept at the ED headquarters in Khan Market.

On October 24, Chidambaram requested a Delhi court to granthim two-day interim bail for getting treatment of his acute stomach pain in ahospital in Hyderabad. However, the court directed that he be taken to AIIMSimmediately in case of any medical complication. The Congress leader was takento the hospital several times on October 7, 23, 25 and 28.