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During periods of endemic war, a nation’s health tends to deteriorate gradually. This article discusses a specific aspect of public health: the development of chronic illnesses and their link with the state of war, based on a study of war-torn Beirut between 1975 and 1990. During the second half of the war (1983-1992), there was a marked increase in the instance of various chronic illnesses in all age groups and this can be linked to events during the war. Reports from people working in the field describe illness as a response to violence and to social and economic crisis. Illness in war can be examined using various approaches, including an analysis of daily life in a war-torn environment, the impact of war on the individual, and the significance of chronic illness in extreme circumstances.