Early works at the Institute

The high mortality of cardiovascular diseases in Northern Norway was the research focus when the institute was founded in 1973. One of our first and most seminal contributions is based on data from the northernmost region – the Finnmark County. Professor Anders Forsdahl showed a strong association between childhood deprivation and adult mortality, suggesting a form of permanent damage in the cardiovascular metabolism caused by nutritional deficit. This finding has later been refined in the “Barker-hypothesis”.