Quicker and faster 3-D printers have allowed not just amazing objects to be created, seemingly out of nothing, but have started to affect how doctors and medical providers treat patients.

This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the first 3-D printed pill. The tablet, called Spritam, is designed to help treat epilepsy and is created through a layered 3-D printing process that lets the tablet dissolve once taken with water.

Spritam is just the latest medical treatment to utilize 3-D printing. Doctors and medical providers have been starting to use the handy device to do everything from create models for trachea or windpipes to create “tiny livers” that can test new medications.

We’ve put together a list of some of the most amazing medical breakthroughs made possible with 3-D printing.

Last year, a San Diego company announced they had managed to “bio-print” tiny livers with a specially designed 3-D printer. The tissue they “print” is combined with three kinds of human liver cells and is designed to allow researchers to test new medications without involving a human patient.

In 2013, doctors painstakingly created a new airway for an Ohio boy who had been born with abirth defect that left him gasping for air.

Kaiba Gionfriddo was born with a defective airway that kept collapsing. To save his life doctors printed tiny tubes to fuse together in different shapes and sizes until one finally worked for Kaiba. The splint was placed in Kaiba’s bronchus so that it no longer collapsed. Even more remarkably, once the plant was placed it could stay there. It is designed to eventually be absorbed into the body.

One of the most remarkable ways 3-D printing is now being used is as a way to create cheaper prosthetics.

A boy born without an arm named Alex was able to get a new “bionic” hand thanks to the help of a few innovative university students and a 3-D printer. Last year at the University of Central Florida student spent 8 weeks coming up with a special prosthetic design that only cost a few hundred dollars in raw materials. They said they wanted to create a model prosthetic far cheaper than the other options that can run tens of thousands of dollars.

Health officials said the Legionnaire’s disease outbreak in New York City that led to 86 people infected and 7 deaths has likely already reached its peak and that cases will likely decline in the upcoming weeks.

While health officials hope the outbreak is dwindling, the large number of those infected prompted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to plan new legislation aimed at cutting down future outbreaks.

The New York City Health Department reported that the all those who died had underlying medical problems and were older adults. Of those infected at least 64 had to be hospitalized.

The disease is caused by Legionnella bacteria and is spread through water droplets that are inhaled. It can be spread through fountains, shower heads, pools or air conditioning cooling towers. Symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

Currently, five cooling towers in the South Bronx have tested positive for legionella bacteria. In those cases, the air inside the building isn’t generally affected, instead it the air conditioners let off cooling mist from the top of the building which then can infect people passing by the area. Health officials said today that the contaminated towers had been cleaned and flushed to remove all bacteria.

In a press conference today Mayor Bill de Blasio said that health officials believe one of the towers is the source of the outbreak.

"The five sites we have found, we’re confident based on scientific evidence we have identified only sites that are causing this outbreak," he told reporters. He said more testing would need to be done to confirm the towers were the source of the outbreka.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical School, said the large outbreak is concerning as health officials still don’t know specifically what the source of the outbreak is and how everyone infected was exposed.

“Are their clusters of association…at a house of worship at this, that or the other function?” said Schaffner. “This is an extraordinary cluster, why in the Bronx and not in Brooklyn or Manhattan for example.”

While cooling towers have tested positive for the bacteria, Dr. Stephen Morse, an infectious disease expert at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, explained the bacteria is naturally occurring in the environment.

“What surprises me more is that we don’t see it more often, it’s common in cooling towers or central air conditioning systems,” he said. “You’re going to find it in a lot of places where there are no reports of people being sick.”

To stop the outbreak the New York City Health Department is taking steps including talking to doctors, reaching out to community leaders and attempting to match the bacteria making patients sick with the bacteria found in various cooling units. New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said in a statement he would introduce legislation designed to cut down on Legionnaire’s disease outbreaks.

“The comprehensive package will address inspections, new recommended action in the case of positive tests, and sanctions for those who fail to comply with new standards,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Legionnaires’ Disease outbreaks have become far too common over the past ten years.”

Summer and fall are when more cases of Legionnaire’s disease are diagnosed according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New York is not the only state grappling with the disease. In Michigan a woman reportedly died suddenly after contracting the bacterial disease.

For Olympic athletes, the countdown to the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro have already begun. Unfortunately, a new report finds that the water where athletes are to compete may not be in the same tip-top shape.

A report by the Associated Press found that some of the key waterways to be use by triathletes, sailors and other open water swimmers remain polluted with bacteria and viruses. Among the pathogens reportedly found human adenoviruses that can cause diarrhea and bacteria.

While the Brazilian organizers still have a few months to clean up the site, experts said triathletes do have to contend with contaminants when swimming in open water.

Dr. Stuart Weiss, the medical director of the Lifetime-New York City Triathalon, said it is extremely important to test the water for pathogens before a race to cut down on risk to the swimmers.

“The athletes swim in the Hudson river [for the Lifetime-New York City Triathalon] we are always concerned about health and safety of swimmers,” he said. “We monitor the water very closely.” He said there is one key thing swimmers can do to cut down on risk of infection.

“You try not to swallow the water but it’s hard when you’re swimming,” said Weiss.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical School, said there’s a few other medical options for athletes if they know they’re going to be exposed to potentially infectious bacteria and viruses.

“Get vaccinated against hepatitius A, the sort of virus that can come from polluted waters also can get into insufficiently prepared food,” explained Schaffner. “The other is vaccination against an important bacterial disease, typhoid fever.”

He said travelers will also be more at risk for gastrointestinal illnesses whether or not they get into the water as they acclimate to new viruses and bacteria.

“You know you’re going to survive but you wish you could die…they’re not fun illnesses but if you keep your hydration you can survive,” Schaffner said of gastrointestinal illnesses that can plague international travelers. “These are the sorts of illnesses that are depleting of fluid and energy and they make Olympic athletes way off their game.”

He said there are a few other easy tips for athletes heading into the murkey waters off Rio.

“Try not to swallow the water, and shower when you get finished,” said Schaffner. “Wash your hands very, very frequently and be careful of what you eat.”

Another option is taking antibiotics for the duration of the trip, but Schaffner warns that can start to affect the natural and helpful bacteria in the gut and on the skin.

“It’s a fine line but I dare say that some of these atheltes will be take prophylactic antibiotics,” he said.

Officials in both Iran and Iraq declared a mandatory holiday this month after temperatures soared far into the triple digits.

In Iraq, temperatures reached a sweltering 126 degrees and officials declared a mandatory holiday to try and protect people from succumbing to the heat. In Iran, the country faced possible record-breaking temperatures and high humidity that will leave residents feeling they are in temperatures as high as 151.2 degrees Fahrenheit, or 66.2 degrees Celsius.

The hottest temperature ever recorded was 56.7 degrees Celsius in Death Valley, but that did not account for humidity.

Such severe temperatures can be incredibly taxing on the body with people more at risk for serious complications including heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

While the old and young are most susceptible to scorching temperatures, such severe heat can be dangerous to anyone spending time out doors.

We asked experts to explain how heat affects the body.

Heat exhaustion is a precursor to heat stroke and can be a sign to get indoors and cooled down fast. While it may seem easy to figure out if someone is getting overheated, experts say that's not always the case. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a list of key symptoms for both heat exhaustion and heat stroke we have included below.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion include:

Heat stroke symptoms can include:

Dr. Edmundo Mandac, director of the Emergency Medicine Clinical Operations, University Hospital Case Medical Center, said that it can be especially difficult to tell if older people are overheating because their body can lose the ability to react to extreme heat.

"They’re in a hot environment and there temperature awareness is not very good," said Mandac. "They don’t have warning signs of sweating."

He said people are usually determined to reach heat stroke if their body temperature reaches about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, but that for older people it may be lower.He explained that as the body has multiple ways of trying to lower the internal temperature.

"The interesting thing is the body has to release the heat somehow, the blood vessels dilate and open up and allow more blood to flow through," said Mandac. "The body thinks it can dissipate the heat…[but]their blood pressure drops."

As a result people can be more at risk for fainting with extreme heat. Heat exhaustion is also just a precursor to heat stroke, a potentially deadly complication as the body's temperature rises.

Mandac explained that heat stroke can be so bad that the body will just stop sweating.

"Things start clamping down [you're] losing fluids and your body says 'I don’t have enough fluids in my central system,'" said Mandac. He explained at this point the patient could be in a dire condition because the body has lost the ability to regulate the internal temperature.

Without any fluids to cool the body, Mandac said this is where things get "bad."

"It...can cause heart failure and cause kidneys to fail and when that happens basically those are the major systems," said Mandac, explaining the fatal risk of heat stroke. He said treatment includes putting icepacks in the underarms, neck and groin to lower the body temperature. In rare cases fluid is pumped into the stomach to lower internal temperature even faster.

There is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which has so far killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa since the world's biggest outbreak began in the forest region of Guinea last year. Cases have dropped dramatically in recent months in the other two hard-hit countries, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

"If proven effective, this is going to be a game-changer," said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, which sponsored the study. "It will change the management of the current outbreak and future outbreaks."

Scientists have struggled for years to develop Ebola treatments and vaccines but have faced numerous hurdles, including the sporadic nature of outbreaks and funding shortages. Many past attempts have failed, including a recently abandoned drug being tested in West Africa by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals.

The study involved several thousand people who had been near a new Ebola patient or a close contact of one. They were randomly assigned to get the vaccine right away or in three weeks.

Researchers started tracking results 10 days after they set up the groups to give time to weed out any people who might have been silently harboring the virus when the study began.

After that point, none of the people in the group that had been assigned to get the vaccine right away developed Ebola, versus 16 people in the group eligible to get the vaccine after 21 days.

The vaccine, developed by the Canadian government, has since been licensed to Merck & Co. but has not yet been approved by regulators. The study results were published online Friday in the journal Lancet.

At the moment, officials think the vaccine would only be used once an outbreak starts, to protect those at high-risk; there are no plans to introduce mass vaccination campaigns like those for measles or polio or to create huge stockpiles of the shots.

Merck, based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, noted its vaccine is in what is normally the final round of human testing in Sierra Leone, and in mid-stage testing in Liberia.

Merck will manufacture the vaccine if it's approved for use outside patient studies. In late-morning trading in the U.S., Merck shares were up 62 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $59.13.

Last December, Gavi, the vaccine alliance, said it would spend up to $300 million buying approved Ebola vaccines. The private-public partnership, which often buys immunizations for poor countries, said Friday that it "stands ready to support the implementation of a WHO-recommended Ebola vaccine."

An expert group monitoring the study's data and safety recommended the trial be stopped on July 26 so that everyone exposed to Ebola in Guinea could be immunized.

The vaccine uses an Ebola protein to prompt the body's immune system to attack the virus.

"It looks to be about as safe as a flu vaccine," said Ben Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading who was not part of the trial. Researchers are still assessing possible side effects; the most serious seemed to be fever and the stress experienced by patients who believe such symptoms were due to Ebola.

An outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease has infected at least 46 in New York City and health officials said the bacteria has already been found in cooling units on top of at least two buildings.

Two patients with Legionnaire's disease died during the outbreak, but officials stressed that the two patients, a man and woman in their 50s, had other conditions including lung and heart issues.

Caused by a bacteria called Legionella, the infection causes a type of pneumonia that can be damaging or even fatal for those with compromised immune systems or underlying health conditions. It’s contracted when a person inhales small droplets of air or water with the bacteria and can be spread from contaminated hot tubs, fountains, cooling units for air conditioners and large plumbing systems.

Dr. Mary Basset, commissioner of the New York City Health Department said the bacteria which causes the disease has been found in two cooling towers in the Bronx, one in a hospital and one in a commercial buildings.

She stressed that the units did not lead to infections inside the buildings and explained at that as the cooling towers release mist it falls onto the street and can potentially infect those passing by.

“It thrives in water and in summer we have a better atmosphere for it,” explained Basset. “We are looking into ways to keep a better eye on the maintenance of these cooling towers.”

She said the reported cases were spread out in a large area so investigators were still searching for other sources of infection.

“We are conducting a swift investigation to determine the source of the outbreak and prevent future cases. I urge anyone with symptoms to seek medical attention right away,” Bassett said in an earlier statement.

Symptoms of Legionnaire’s disease include coughing, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle aches or headaches.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said that 31 infections constitute a large outbreak for Legionnaire’s disease and that health officials will likely look for a common source if people are in the same neighborhood.

“If they are clustered geographically … Where do they travel, where do they work, where do they worship?,” Schaffner said of the kinds of questions health officials will ask patients. “By localizing it geographically you can look up and see if you can find cooling towers that might be contaminated.”

While the large outbreak is worrying, Schaffner said people should not panic since the disease cannot be spread person to person and antibiotic treatment is available.

The disease was named after it infected numerous people at conference of the American Legion in 1976. The bacteria leads to the hospitalization of around 8,000 to 18,000 people in the U.S. every year according to the U.S. Center of Disease Control and Prevention and it is more commonly reported in the summer and early fall.

Body camera footage made headlines again this week after Officer Ray Tensing was indicited for murder after he allegedly shot a man in the head during a traffic stop.

At a news conference, prosecutor Joseph Deters said the footage was "shocking" and cited it as a key component in the evidence that lead a grand jury to indict tensing.

While Tensing's case shows how body cameras can shed light on an incident, experts say how the cameras will affect officers and police departments on a large scale remains largely unknown.

Michael Broder, a therapist who worked with the Philadelphia police department for five years providing psychological counseling, said the big question among experts is if the body cameras will make police afraid to act or if they will just not act inappropriately.

“Some cops are going to welcome it and some cops who are not going to [care] and there other cops who are going to make a decision, ‘I’m not going to take any chances for losing my job,’... or go to jail,” for a single action, said Broder. “The independent variable there is the rise in crime statistics or whether that it rises at all.”

There are not many studies on the effects of body cameras, but one important one found that use of force and complaints against police went down after the technology was introduced in a small California town. In the 2014 study, researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology studied police officers in the town of Rialto, California who had been given body cameras.

“Knowledge that events are being recorded creates ‘self-awareness’ in all participants during police interactions,” said University of Cambridge officials in a statement on the study. “ This is the critical component that turns body-worn video into a ‘preventative treatment.’”

They said the camera may cause individuals to modify their behavior in response to a “third-parry” surveillance related to the camera. They compared the camera to a proxy for a “legal courts — as well as courts of public opinion” that lead officers to be more cautious.

"An officer is obliged to issue a warning from the start that an encounter is being filmed," explained study author Barak Ariel in a statement. "Impacting the psyche of all involved by conveying a straightforward, pragmatic message: we are all being watched, videotaped and expected to follow the rules."

According to the study, complaints against officers in the area dropped from 0.7 to 0.07 per 1,000 contacts in that year-long study.

Another study looked at how surveillance cameras can increase accountability among bystanders in an emergency. The “bystander effect” has been used by social scientists to explain why people are less likely to help when they’re in a group than when they’re alone.

In part researchers have found that people may be less likely to help when they think someone else can take on those duties. However, in the 2012 study researchers found by adding a camera, participants had more “public self-awareness” and as a result were more likely to act and help.

David Silber, a professor of psychology emeritus at George Washington University and expert in the psychology of crime and violence, said more study was needed to understand how body cameras will affect police but he suspects they aren’t going anywhere soon.

“I have a feeling whatever the influence of body cameras are now they will tend to grow as it becomes known they are pretty reliable records and subject to some interpretation of course,” said Silber.

Pictures of two Oklahoma boys with second- and third-degree burns have started to make national headlines after they spent hours at a water park without sun protection, according to their mother.

Shaunna Broadway was horrified to find out her fair-skinned sons, ages 5 and 7, were left without sun protection during a day care trip to a nearby water park.

Broadway said that daycare workers said that they didn’t have sunscreen for the boys and the young boys did not keep their shirts on at the park. The boys ended up in the hospital with second- and third-degree burns and were eventually airlifted to a Texas hospital for further treatment.

A video released by Broadway shows the boys screaming in pain as they receive treatment. She told ABC News she was heartbroken to see her sons injured after they spent hours in triple-digit temperatures.

“It’s been really hard to see them go through this,” she said.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services confirmed to ABC News that the daycare center has ceased operations.

Experts say this case clearly shows how dangerous a simple trip outdoors can be for those without sun protection.

Dr. Barney Kenet, a New York-based dermatologist, said the boys were likely susceptible to severe sun damage because they appear to have very fair skin.

“Those boys are very fair and [one has] red hair, they are as fair as they can be,” said Kenet. “In high-sun community and so you can get a burn … in 15 minutes when you’re this fair.”

He guessed spending an hour or more in the sun with no protection could lead to the severe burns seen on the boys in the pictures released by Broadway.

He said while the burns look severe in the pictures, the boys will likely not suffer permanent damage.

“The future however is good,” said Kenet. “Both boys will heal up quite well ... it’s highly unlikely they will have scarring.”

He did warn that the boys could be at high risk for health complications in the future as a result of the severe burn.

“Unfortunately severe burns in childhood in this natures are an independent risk factor for skin cancer later in life,” explained Kenet.

Kenet said it’s key to apply broad spectrum sun block every two to three hours when in the sun and to try and avoid being outdoors during peak hours. He said if rambunctious kids refuse to stay indoors parents can double up on sun block and long sleeve rash guards to give protection to vulnerable children.

“They have pristine, very fair and unclimatized skin,” Kenet said of the two boys. “Baby skin, it’s very fair. They have no tan and no protection.“

Expert Author Paul A Scicluna

On a trip to sun-drenched Hua Hin in Thailand, it really opened my|healthcare professional|personal|my own, personal|search terms|my own , personal|medical professional|published|health care provider|my business|all of my|of my|excellent|my own personal|keyword phrases|a|offered|economical|day-to-day|web page} eyes to the lack of healthy people. For those of you not familiar with Hua Hin, it is a relaxing beach side town 144km south west of Bangkok. On average, it provides residents and visitors with a glorious 260 days of sun per year. Plus, you can live like Kings and Queens because the food and accommodation is relatively cheap.

However , what astounded me was that 90% of the people (excluding the locals) were out of shape or overweight - a heart attack or Type 2 diabetes in the makings. Whether you're on a holiday or business trip you can and should take care of your health. Especially if you have children as they learn from the parents.

My|Healthcare professional|Personal|My own, personal|Search terms|My own , personal|Medical professional|Published|Health care provider|My business|All of my|Of my|Excellent|My own personal|Keyword phrases|A|Offered|Economical|Day-to-day|Web page} trip was a mixture of business and leisure. Having turned 40 I allowed myself to indulge a little for this extra special occasion! As long as most of the time your diet is great, your body will be able to cope with a bit of indulgence. Yet, what I saw everyday were most people filling their plates with fatty, processed and non-nutritious foods, washed down with soft drinks or sodas.

My|Healthcare professional|Personal|My own, personal|Search terms|My own , personal|Medical professional|Published|Health care provider|My business|All of my|Of my|Excellent|My own personal|Keyword phrases|A|Offered|Economical|Day-to-day|Web page} breakfast usually started with some fresh fruit and salad. Sometimes I had a freshly made omelette, other times it was sauteed vegetables. The rainbow of colours meant that there were plenty of nutrients.

I asked a tourist who was visiting from Europe if I could take a photo of his meal. He looked at me strangely but obliged. The plate was full of bread loaded with margarine and also a croissant with jam. It just looked bland, boring, lifeless and not nutritious at all. It was just a plate of processed carbs, fat and sugar, not to mention all the additives and preservatives hidden within. This plate of food is devoid of quality nutrients.

He asked what the photo was for? I attempted to explain what I do as well as the difference between our meals, and to eat more of the foods I had on my plate. There were language barriers but I think I convinced him; the thumbs up sign for positive affirmation seemed to work. And, especially after someone had explained to him that I just turned 40 and it was translated back to me that he thought I looked 28! Over the course of the trip I did see him getting some fresh fruit which was a great. Bit by bit I say - gradually bring change into your daily habits for a lifelong, healthy positive change.