JMIR Publications released five feature News and Perspectives articles, covering the unexpected outcomes of social media regulations in Australia, China’s AI health landscape, and how digital innovations are being used to improve health outcomes across the United States.

Protein-fortified foods are popping up everywhere, from cereal and coffee to even protein water. But a new review covering over 350 papers on protein restriction and aging—publishing July 31 in the Cell Press journal Cell Press Blue—suggests that consuming less protein could have greater health benefits and could, in some cases, extend lifespan. The authors describe how protein restriction slows aging by improving metabolism, changing how cells respond to nutrients, reducing cellular damage, and preserving healthy cell function.

About the Study: What is the potential impact of expanding alcohol screening and brief interventions in primary care on premature mortality from major alcohol-related causes of death in US adults? In this decision analytical model and microsimulation study, expanding delivery of alcohol brief interventions to an additional 8 million interventions per year was projected to reduce annual alcohol-related potential years of life lost per 100 000 adults by −51.3 (95% credible interval [CrI], −73.2 to −32.8) in men and −34.1 (CrI, −54.5 to −16.1) in women by 2030 compared with the status quo. These findings suggest that substantially expanding alcohol screening and brief interventions in primary care may reduce premature mortality and help narrow the socioeconomic gap in alcohol-related mortality in the US.

About the Study: What are the long-term trends in US nursing home closures and ownership transitions and how are facility characteristics associated with different types of operational change? In this cohort study of 33 110 US nursing home locations from 1985 to 2025, nearly half of the facilities followed simple entry-exit patterns, while approximately one-fifth remained operational despite ownership changes. Organizational restructuring, including change of ownership and within-facility capacity reconfiguration, became more common over time and was more prevalent than permanent facility closure or market exit. These findings suggest that nursing home closures often reflect broader organizational restructuring rather than true market exit, highlighting the importance of incorporating ownership transitions and capacity changes into nursing home policy and oversight.

About the Study: This Viewpoint explores how school-entry vaccine requirements provide an unusually valuable point of contact between the education system and the health care system.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center validated an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered blood test that accurately detected liver cancer in people from two geographically and biologically distinct populations and also uncovered the underlying biological signals that make the test effective.

A Nature Communications study from Dawood Darbar, chair of the Penn State Department of Medicine, found how various genetic mutations interact to lead to early-onset atrial fibrillation.

The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) is providing the University and University Hospital Cologne with one million euros in funding over a period of thirty months. Immunocompromised patients – who are at risk from invasive fungal infections – will benefit in particular.