Vaccination as a Form of Mithridatism

Mithridatism is the practice of ingesting small amounts of poison in order to develop immunity, or at least tolerance, to the substance. The practice is named after King Mithridates VI, who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Pontus in Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC and began the eponymous practice after his father had been assassinated by poisoning. Mithridatism can work in two ways: either by producing antibodies that neutralize toxins, or for the same reason that alcoholics and drug addicts develop a tolerance: the body begins producing more enzymes to catalyze the metabolic pathways responsible for detoxifying the substances being ingested. The same process may be reversed when the addict ceases to consume the substance – the body will downregulate the enzymes necessary for the now unused pathways. This fact often kills heroin addicts who relapse and take the same dose that they had been taking when they had…