Gulf War veterans' cancer rates average StatsCan KEYWORDS: ""CANADIAN SOLDIER*"" AND NOT (""SADDAM HUSSEIN"" OR ""FIRST WORLD WAR"" OR ""SECOND WORLD WAR""), ""CANADIAN SOLDIER*"" A new study finds that Gulf War veterans showed no higher incidence of cancer, or death from all causes, than other military personnel or the general population. In fact, the more than 11,000 Canadian soldiers, sailors and air crew surveyed for Statistics Canada had a 50 per cent lower death rate due to any cause than the general population, says the study started in 2001. 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. The study compared 5,117 military personnel deployed to the Gulf and Kuwait war between August 1990 and October 1991 with 6,093 of their comrades who were not deployed, as well as the general population. It found 42 deaths among those deployed and 54 deaths in the non-deployed group. It also found that the risk of cancer between the two military groups was not significantly different - 29 cases among veterans and 42 among the rest.