Mithridation
Mithridatisation is a method of protection against poisoning. This is done by gradually increasing the dose of poisons in a non-lethal amount in an attempt to achieve tolerance to these poisons.
Word origin
The term goes back to Mithridates VI. , the king of Pontus . After the poisoning of his father, Mithridates also had to fear for his life, fled his homeland for about seven years and from then on immunized himself as a prophylaxis against attacks by daily intake of antidotes . According to Galenos , Mithridates is said to have tested the effects of poisons on criminals sentenced to death. Pliny the Elder and Aulus Gellius mention a Mithridatium antidotum ascribed to Mithridates with 54 ingredients. It was later developed by Andromachos the Elder by adding viper meat and other ingredients to the Theriak with 64 ingredients. This was known as panacea until the 16th century and was used especially for snake bites. The Nicolai Antidotarium has a recipe with more than 100 ingredients.
Defeated by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in a decisive battle, legend has it that Mithridates wanted to commit suicide with a lethal dose of poison to avoid captivity. But he failed because he was immune to even the deadliest poison of his time. Because of this, a soldier had to cut his throat with a sword.
Later use of mithridatisation
Mithridatisation was previously practiced by the arsenic eaters , who after a while tolerated several times the usual lethal dose without major symptoms of poisoning. The mechanism of mithridatisation in arsenic eaters was based on the fact that the toxic substance is absorbed less and less after getting used to it. Nevertheless, symptoms of poisoning do occur in the long term.
Ferdinand-Jean Darier also used the term mithridatisation in connection with idiosyncratic intolerance.
As a rule, nowadays there is no reasonable cost / benefit ratio for mithridatisation with the exception of people who deal with highly poisonous living things (e.g. dealers of zoo animals).
literature
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Werner E. Gerabek Bernhard Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Encyclopedia of medical history. De Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2007, ISBN 978-3-11-019703-7 .
- Andreas Kramer: Mithridates VI. Eupator. P. 999 f.
- Gundolf Keil: Mithrldaticum. P. 1000.
- Mirko Grmek: The History of Medical Thought. Ancient and Middle Ages. CH Beck, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-406-40286-0 . P. 287.
- Jörg Mildenberger: Anton Trutmann's pharmacopoeia. Part II: Dictionary. Königshausen u. Neumann, Würzburg 1997. ISBN 3-8260-1398-0 . P. 1241 f.
- Eduard Schäfer: Observations on the arsenic eater in Styria. In: Chemisches Central-Blatt, 6th vol., No. 20, May 8, 1861.
- Gilbert Watson: Theriac and Mithridatium. A Study in Therapeutics. Wellcome Historical Medical Library, London 1966.