Coronavirus Update: Here is what our office is doing to keep our patients and staff safe Altoona Arthritis & Osteoporosis Center and the Altoona Center for Clinical Research has the top pri-

ority of the safety and well-being of our patients and staff at all times. We are closely monitoring the

progression of COVID-19, Coronavirus, and are continuing to keep the priority of our patient's and

staff's safety forefront at all times. Listed below are ways that our office is helping to keep all patients,

visitors and staff in our office safe:

- All common area surfaces are sanitized consistently throughout the day and at the main areas after

each individual

- Temperatures are being taken of each individual who walks through the door

- Our cleaning staff is cleaning with a disinfectant solution throughout the entire office after hours dai-

ly

- Soap, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes

are located for ease of use for all

- If you have traveled outside of the country

within the past 14 days or have been around

anyone who was experiencing symptoms of

COVID-19 please call us to reschedule your

appointment

- If you are feeling sick/unwell with a fever

please contact our office to reschedule your

appointment or to discuss if further options are

available to you

We are now offering Telemedicine! Please call

our office if you are interested to find out more

information and please make sure to check

with your insurance company to see if they are

covering Telemedicine.

We thank you all for your patience in this mat-

ter and encourage you to call with any ques-

tions or concerns you may have.

What’s not to like about walking? It’s free. It’s easy to do, and it’s easy on the joints. And there’s no ques-tion that walking is good for you. A University of Tennessee study found that women who walked had less body fat than those who didn’t walk. It also lowers the risk of blood clots, since the calf acts as a venous pump, contracting and pumping blood from the feet and legs back to the heart, reducing the load on the heart. In addition to being an easy aerobic exercise, walking is good for you in many other ways. 1. Improve Circulation—Walking wards off heart disease, brings up the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and strengthens the heart. Post-menopausal women who walk just 1 to 2 miles a day can lower their blood pressure by nearly 11 points in 24 weeks. Women who walk 30 min. a day can reduce their risk of stroke by 20%, and by 40% when they stepped up the pace, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. 2. Shore Up Your Bones—Walking can stop the loss of bone mass for those with osteoporosis, according to Michael A. Schwartz, MD, of Plancher Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in New York. In fact, one study of post-menopausal women found that 30 minutes of walking each day reduced their risk of hip fractures by 40%. 3. Enjoy a Longer Life—Research finds that people who exercise regularly in their fifties and sixties are 35% less likely to die over the next 8 years than their non-walking counterparts. That number shoots up to 45% less likely for those who have underlying health conditions. 4. Lighten Your Mood—Walking releases natural pain-killing endorphins to the body – one of the emo-tional benefits of exercise. A California State University, Long Beach, study showed that the more steps people took during the day, the better their moods were. 5. Lose Weight—A brisk 30-min. walk burns 200 calories. Over time, calories burned can lead to pounds dropped. 6. Strengthen Muscles—Walking tones your leg and abdominal muscles – and even arm muscles if you pump them as you walk. This increases your range of motion, shifting the pressure and weight from your joints to your muscles. 7. Improve Sleep—Studies found that women, ages 50 to 75, who took one-hour morning walks, were more likely to relieve insomnia than women who didn’t walk 8. Support Your Joints—The majority of joint cartilage has no direct blood supply. It gets its nutrition from joint fluid that circulates as we move. Movement and compression from walking “squishes” the car-tilage, bringing oxygen and nutrients into the area. 9. Improve Your Breath—When walking, your breathing rate increases, causing oxygen to travel faster through bloodstream, helping to eliminate waste products and improve your energy level and the ability to heal. 10. Slow Down Mental Decline—A study of 6,000 women, ages 65 and older, performed by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that age-related memory decline was lower in those who walked more. The women walking 2.5 miles/day had a 17% decline in memory, as opposed to a 25% decline in women who walked less than a half-mile/week. 11. Lower Alzheimer’s Risk—A study from the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville found that men between the ages of 71 and 93 who walked more than a 1/4 of a mile/day had 1/2 the inci-dence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than those who walked less. 12. Do More for Longer—Aerobic walking and resistance exercise programs may reduce the incidence of disability in the activities of daily living for people who are older than 65 and have symptomatic OA, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management found.—Arthritis.org

Building the right health-care team is a crucial step in managing your arthritis and your pain. In creat-ing your team, you may need professionals with different kinds of expertise. Here are some of the many people you may recruit to your team over the years, depending on your needs. Primary Care Physician - provide first contact and continuing medical care, including the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses, health promotion, disease prevention, health mainte-nance, counseling and patient education. Primary care activities are performed and managed in collab-oration with other health-care professionals. Rheumatologist— physicians in the subspecialty of internal medicine and pediatrics that diagnose and treat arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles and bones. The diseases they treat include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, regional musculoskeletal problems, osteopo-rosis and gout. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine—Although osteopaths have traditionally been family physicians, today they practice in every specialty field in medicine. Doctors of osteopathic medicine are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery with the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as traditional MDs or allopathic physicians. Orthopedic Surgeon—physicians who specialize in managing conditions involving the musculoskel-etal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat bone and joint trau-ma, sports injuries, arthritis, infections, tumors and congenital disorders. Some orthopedic surgeons specialize in specific joint areas (shoulder, hip, knee) and in certain types of surgery (joint replace-ment or arthroscopy). Chiropractor—focus on the relationship between the skeleton, muscles, nerves and the patient’s health. Chiropractors believe that health can be improved and preserved by making adjustments to these structures, particularly to the spinal column. They do not prescribe drugs or perform surgical procedures. Dermatologist—medical doctors who deal with diseases of the skin, hair and nails. If you have psori-atic arthritis, your skin disease may be treated by a dermatologist. Neurologist - specialist physicians who are trained to diagnose and treat neurological disorders of the brain, spinal cord, nerves or muscles. Nurse - health-care professionals who work independently or as part of a team to assess, plan, imple-ment and evaluate care of individuals, families and communities so they may attain, maintain or re-cover optimal health and quality of life. Nurse Practitioner—registered nurses with additional training to allow them to provide expanded practice in family, women’s health, pediatrics, adult, acute care and other areas. The core philosophy of the field is individualized care focusing on the effects of illness on the lives of patients and their families, disease prevention, wellness, patient education and advocacy activities. Occupational Therapist - trained to promote health by enabling people to perform meaningful and purposeful activities. Occupational therapists work with individuals who have mental, physical, devel-opmental and/or emotionally disabling conditions using treatments that develop, recover or maintain activities of daily living.

Ophthalmologist—Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine that diagnoses and treats disorders of the eye. People with inflammatory forms of arthritis, in particular those with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, need to see an ophthalmologist regularly to check for signs of uveitis. Pain Specialist - use an interdisciplinary approach for diagnosing and managing acute and chronic pain. The typical pain management team includes medical practitioners (anesthesiologists, neurolo-gists and neurosurgeons) clinical psychologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and nurse practitioners. Pharmacist - A pharmacist’s emphasis is on providing safe and effective medication use. They dis-pense medications in pharmacies and other locations and assist in the overall pharmaceutical care needs of individuals including drug education, counseling, compliance and cost issues. Psychiatrist - physicians who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illness-es, including mood and anxiety disorders. Their training enables them to understand the body’s com-plex relationship between physical and psychological causes of both mental and physical distress. Psychologist - have a doctoral degree in psychology and perform psychological therapy, testing and research in clinical, private and school settings. Psychologists do not prescribe medications. Physiatrist - (rehabilitation medicine specialists) are physicians who focus on functional abilities and quality of life in those with physical impairments or disabilities. Physiatrists specialize in restoring optimal function to people with injuries to the muscles, bones, tissues and nervous system. Physical Therapist - health-care professionals who focus on the management of impairments and disabilities through the promotion of mobility, functional ability and quality of life. Their care activi-ties include evaluation, diagnosis and physical interventions including therapeutic exercise and the application of modalities. Physician Assistant—health-care professionals who provide services that were traditionally per-formed by physicians. They conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery and write prescriptions. Physician assistants have their own medical licenses but do work with collaborative physician supervision. Podiatrist—diagnose and treat disorders of the foot, ankle and lower leg. Podiatric physicians can specialize in different areas including surgery, sports medicine, biomechanics, geriatrics, pediatrics, internal medicine, diabetes, orthope-dics or primary care. Registered Dietician—promote the understanding of the effects of nutri-tion and the impact of food on health and well-being including diet, food preparation and nutritional counseling. Sleep Specialist—focus on the diagno-sis and therapy of sleep disturbances, including primary sleep disorders such as sleep apnea as well as the role and quality of sleep in other conditions like arthritis and fibromyalgia.—Arthritis.org

Ingredients:

Crumb:

1 1/2 c. pecans, finely chopped

1/3 c. white sugar

1/3 c. packed light brown sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

3 T. melted butter

Cake:

1 7/8 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 t. fine sesa salt

1 t. baking powder

3/4 t. baking soda

1/2 c. butter

1 c. white sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 c. sour cream or crème fraiche

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter an 8 in. by 10 in. baking dish

2. Mix pecans, 1/3 c. white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter thoroughly in a mixing bowl until all components are coated with butter, 3-4 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour , salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

4. In another bowl, mix together butter and 1 c. sugar with a spatula until well blended. Add 1 egg and whisk until mixture is smooth, 2-3 minutes. Whisk in second egg until thoroughly incorpo-rated. Add vanilla and sour cream; whisk together. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients; whisk until flour disappears (do not over mix).

5. Spread one half of the batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Scatter one half of the crumb mixture evenly over the top of the batter. Top with the rest of the batter and spread carefully to evenly distribute, trying not to disturb the crumbs. Top with the rest of the crumb mix-ture. Bake in preheated oven until a bamboo skewer comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Darla, Office Manager

Darla has been with our practice since we opened the doors in 1982.

As the Office Manager Darla is responsible for hiring and developing em-

ployees, maintaining technology and networks throughout the office, over-

seeing interactions with patients and handling matters that need further atten-

tion. In an average day she can find herself involved in many projects to help

assist departments throughout the office to ensure that all aspects are running

as smoothly as possible.

Her favorite part of her job, she states, is helping patients and working

to resolve any problems they may be having. In Darla’s 38 years with Altoona Arthritis & Osteoporo-

sis Center she feels that she has been able to expand her knowledge into many different areas. Her fa-

vorite project in her time here was the installation of the first computer our practice began with. This

has led into an ever expanding network of computers, technology and our current electronic medical

records system that now allows more ease of access to patients and providers across the board.

Though Darla has many projects at work she enjoys her time outside of work. She enjoys

spending time with her family, going for bike rides, taking walks and, in general, being outside in

some capacity.