Seeing your allergist on a screen instead of in the office might feel strange at first, but for many people with allergies, telehealth isn’t just convenient. it’s effective.

In this episode, we sit down with telemedicine pioneer Dr. Jay Portnoy to explore how virtual allergy care works, what it can and can’t do, and how it’s helping patients get the care they need without the wait or the long drive.

Dr. Portnoy shares over two decades of experience leading allergy telemedicine programs in rural areas and explains how remote care has grown from a fringe idea into a standard part of allergy care. He and Dr. G also discuss the benefits for both patients and clinicians.

So how do you know when telehealth is enough and when it’s not?

What we cover in our episode about virtual allergy care and telemedicine:

• How does telemedicine work for allergy patients? Learn how video visits and asynchronous tools are making care faster and easier, especially in rural or underserved areas.
• Telemendine limitations. We break down when in-person care is still needed, like for food challenges, skin tests, or urgent symptoms.
• Privacy and safety in virtual care. From HIPAA-compliant platforms to quiet spaces at home or in schools, we talk about how to keep your virtual visit just as private as a clinic one.
• How testing works with telemedicine. Telehealth doesn’t mean skipping tests. Many can be ordered remotely and done at a local lab or clinic near you.
• The future of allergy care. Hear how virtual care is shifting toward patient choice, whether you want to video call, send a message, or still come in.

___

Made in partnership with The Allergy & Asthma Network.

Thanks to Genentech for sponsoring today’s episode.

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.

Multiple food allergies are a daily stressor for millions of families. From avoiding social events to fearing accidental exposures, it can feel like living in a constant state of alert. Until recently, there were no FDA-approved treatments that targeted more than one allergen at a time.

In this episode, we break down the study: “Omalizumab for the Treatment of Multiple Food Allergies,” published in 2024 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Known as the OUtMATCH trial, it’s the first large-scale study to show that omalizumab (Xolair), a biologic already used for asthma and hives, may help people with multiple food allergies by raising the threshold for reactions.

We explain how omalizumab works by blocking IgE, the antibody that triggers allergic reactions, and how the study measured changes in reaction thresholds (the amount of an allergen a person can ingest before reacting). We also explore the trial design, results, safety profile, and what all of this means for the day-to-day management of food allergies.

• How omalizumab works to prevent allergic reactions: Learn how blocking IgE increases the amount of allergen needed to trigger symptoms, offering protection from small, accidental exposures.
• Who qualified for the OUtMATCH trial and why: Find out which patients were included and how eligibility impacted outcomes.
• What success looked like in this study: Understand how researchers defined protection across multiple allergens.
• Why not everyone responded the same to omalizumab: Explore the variability in results and what it means for clinical care.
• What else the study found beyond food challenges: Hear about safety findings, quality of life data, and the open-label extension.

📌 INFOGRAPHIC to follow along

The Itch Review, hosted by Dr. Gupta, Kortney, and Dr. Blaiss, explores allergy and immunology studies, breaking down complex research in conversations accessible to clinicians, patients, and caregivers. Each episode provides key insights from journal articles and includes a one-page infographic in the show notes for easy reference.

___

Made in partnership with The Allergy & Asthma Network.

Thanks to Genentech for sponsoring today’s episode.

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.

When people get hives or swelling, they often think it’s caused by an allergy. But in the case of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), the culprit is often your own immune system. CSU isn’t your typical allergic reaction, instead, it’s frequently an autoimmune condition, where the immune system misfires and activates mast cells without any external trigger.

In this episode, Dr. Payel Gupta and Kortney unpack what it means for CSU to be autoimmune and autoallergic. They explain how IgE and IgG antibodies can trigger histamine release, leading to hives and swelling. You’ll also learn why allergy testing isn’t useful for diagnosing CSU, and how tests like IgG food sensitivity panels can do more harm than good by leading to unnecessary food avoidance and confusion.

What we cover in our episode about autoimmune CSU and chronic hives:

• Is CSU an allergy? Why CSU is often mistaken for an allergic reaction—and why standard allergy tests rarely provide helpful answers.
• How the immune system works in CSU: What mast cells are, how they release histamine, and their central role in chronic spontaneous urticaria.
• Understanding autoimmune CSU: Learn how the immune system can trigger hives from within, including the roles of IgE and IgG antibodies.
• Autoimmune hives explained: We explore how CSU can be autoimmune, why the immune system may attack itself, and what Type I and Type IIb autoimmune CSU really mean.

____

Made in partnership with The Allergy & Asthma Network.

Thanks to Novartis for sponsoring today’s episode.

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.