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  This week in the medical journalsSafety concerns raised about diabetes drugBy Peggy Peck Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with MedPageToday.com, which provides custom health content. A medical journal roundup from MedPage Today appears each Thursday. Drug safety made headlines in the major medical journals this week when noted Cleveland Clinic cardiologists came up with a disturbing analysis about a new diabetes drug that is just a hair away from approval by the Food and Drug Administration. More drug-related heart complicationsAn analysis rushed online by the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested that treatment with the experimental type 2 diabetes drug Pargluva (muraglitazar) doubles the risk of death, heart attack and stroke compared with placebo or standard therapy. The drug, which is being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck, has been touted as a one-two punch that attacks both blood sugar and cholesterol. Last month an FDA advisory panel recommended approval by an 8 to 1 vote. Earlier this week the FDA sent letter a telling the companies the drug could be approved if they supplied more information about cardiovascular safety. Experimental diabetes drug linked to increased risk of death, strokes and heart attacks To cut or not to cut?Weight loss surgery, meanwhile, has become a growth industry, with bariatric surgery a popular addition to many hospitals. But this week there was sobering news about gastric bypass surgery. Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles studied records from 66,077 gastric-bypass surgery patients and reported in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association that, compared with the year before, surgery patients are twice as likely to be hospitalized in the year following the bypass. In the same issue of JAMA, University of Washington researchers said that close to 5 percent of patients die in the year following surgery and -- as might be expected -- the risk of death increases with age. Gastric bypass: Let the morbidly obese beware But surgery may be just what the doctor ordered for people who suffer from the severe heartburn syndrome called gastroesphageal reflux disease, or GERD. French surgeons reported in the Archives of Surgery that 95 percent of patients who undergo a laparoscopic repair that keeps stomach acid form splashing up into the esophagus remain heartburn-free for at least five years. The benefits of French cuisine were not discussed. Laparoscopic surgery staves off severe GERD symptoms One good shot deserves anotherA systematic review of published articles on the mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccine found the only harm associated with the vaccine is the risk to the health of children who aren't vaccinated. The Cochrane Collaboration report is the latest attempt to quell persistent rumors about risks of the vaccine. The authors concluded that researchers who reported a link between MMR and autism or other diseases were victims of bad data. MMR vaccine is safe, international team affirms And on the subject of vaccines, a team of UCLA researchers reported that a one-shot pertussis vaccine is 92 percent effective in adolescents and adults at risk for whooping cough. This was especially good news for teenagers, who are currently the group most at risk for pertussis infection, the researchers wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine. One-shot pertussis vaccine scores for adolescents and adults Bent but not brokenAlso this week, Italian scientists reported that the common industrial pollutant polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can damage sperm in white men, but had no effect on sperm samples from Greenland Inuits. But, while damaged, the sperm were not defeated. Both European and Inuit men were still quite fertile, according to the study, which was published in Human Reproduction. Sperm from Inuit men found resistant to pollutant damage Effective breast cancer treatmentThere was a confirmation of a good-news breast cancer story this week. The New England Journal of Medicine published a trio of previously reported studies that found about 15 to 20 percent of women with early-stage breast cancer can reduce the risk of recurrence by taking Herceptin (trastuzumab). The drug is effective in women with tumors that are positive for a cancer gene called HER-2 and has been used for several years to treat women with more advanced breast cancer. Breast cancer specialists say early treatment with Herceptin halves the risk of recurrence, a finding they called "stunning." Herceptin halves risk of HER2-positive breast cancer recurrence Into the woodsA walk in the woods turned up some equally stunning news for Georgetown University researchers who report that a small black mushroom found in the forests of northern Europe may be the source of a powerful new class of antibiotics. Writing in Nature, the researchers said plectasin, which is derived from the mushrooms, may be effective against a wide range of bacteria. Pectasin belongs to a class of molecules called defensins, which are also being studied as antivirals. This is the first defensin isolated from a fungus. Mushroom yields first of new class of antibiotics Tackling psoriasisPsoriasis is a difficult and often frustrating condition for both patients and physicians, so good treatment news is always welcome. This week researchers reported in The Lancet that Remicade (infliximab), a drug originally developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, is an effective treatment for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Eighty percent of patients treated with Remicade reported significant improvement at 10 weeks and the improvement lasted for most patients for 50 weeks. Remicade shows efficacy for moderate to severe psoriasis Challenging accepted wisdomBut while a new treatment worked for psoriasis, another Lancet study said an old reliable treatment for high blood pressure may not live up to its reputation. After analyzing data from 13 studies that enrolled more than 100,000 patients, Swedish researchers wrote that beta-blockers don't lower blood pressure any better than other drugs and are less effective at preventing strokes -- a major risk factor for people with high blood pressure. In the United States, guidelines for treatment of high blood pressure recommend beta-blockers or diuretics as first-line treatments. Beta-blockers called poor choice for hypertension Mellow newsFinally, here is a study that will appeal to Alice B. Toklas brownie fans. Researchers in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, said that a synthetic cannabinoid --similar to, but stronger, than compounds found in marijuana -- can trigger the growth of new brain cells and reduce anxiety and depression. By contrast, alcohol and cocaine inhibit the growth of neurons, the researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Endnote: Cheech and Chong didn't really look any smarter. Marijuana may grow neurons in the brain 
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