Since returning home, many Canadian veterans have complained of a litany of so-called Gulf War illnesses. But a new study concludes they're no more likely to develop cancer than those who didn't serve in the Persian Gulf.

The Statistics Canada study is based on the medical records of 5,117 Canadian Military personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf area between August 1990 and October 1991, and another 6,093 veterans who were eligible but did not deploy.

According to the results of the survey released on Thursday, despite a higher prevalence of self-reported illnesses among those who served in the Gulf and Kuwait War, "there was no significant difference in the overall risk of death between the deployed and non-deployed cohorts."

The only marked difference was in the number of people killed in "airspace crashes."

"This result may be explained by the fact that there were three times as many members in flying occupations ... in the deployed cohort," the study concludes.

But the study found no significant difference between the deployed and non-deployed groups in rates of suicide, coronary heart disease or cancer.

In fact, the study says the rate of suicide and death from heart disease is equivalent in the military and the general population. And when it comes to the overall rate of death from "all causes," those in the military appear to have fared better than their civilian counterparts.

"For both the deployed and the non-deployed cohorts, there was a statistically significant lower risk of death from all causes of about 50 per cent compared to the general population."

But that's not because life in the army is safer than life in the civilian world.

Rather, Statistics Canada chalks the difference in disease-related mortality rates to the so-called "healthy worker" effect.

"The exclusion from military service of persons with serious chronic illnesses likely accounts for this finding," the report concludes.

The study's authors shy away from declaring their conclusions definitive, however.

Citing their relatively small sample as a critical limitation, the study suggests a longer timeframe might reveal more incidences of cancer or disease as subjects get older.

But when it comes to comparing the incidence of disease between the deployed and non-deployed subjects, they say there's little hope for a clearer picture.

"A longer follow-up period will not address the major limitation of this study, which is the overall size of the Gulf and Kuwait War veteran cohort."

The findings, which do not address the issue of acknowledged Gulf War illnesses such as bone, skin, digestive and respiratory disorders, are consistent with those among Gulf War veterans in other countries.