# Is it actually possible to build up an immunity to iocane powder? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706 "2012-11-21T09:36:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/1 "2012-11-21T09:36:04Z")
Everyone knows that it’s possible to build up a strong tolerance to certain drugs with frequent use – alcohol, heroin, nicotine, etc. What about other, more lethal poisons? Could someone become immune to arsenic, or ricin, by carefully dosing themselves with non-lethal amounts? Could lactose intolerant people become tolerant, by consuming ever-increasing amounts of dairy products? How about peanut allergies? Basically, I’m wondering if the scenario presented in _The Princess Bride_ has any possible analogy to real-world poisons, or if the very idea is…umm…inconceivable. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/2 "2012-11-21T10:47:59Z")
It depends completely on the poison and on why it’s a poison. Lactose: no, having more lactose will not reactivate lactase production on someone who’s lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance is a normal part of the aging process for most people, our bodies slow down production of the enzyme which breaks up lactose. Giving yourself the runs will not make you younger. Arsenic and other heavy metals: they accumulate in the body. Having small doses is akin to getting punched in the face once every day - it may not hurt as bad as getting a dozen punches all together, but it’s still Not A Good Idea nor will it make you stop getting bruises. Organic compounds which are broken down by the body: many manage to create tolerance while killing you (alcohol is the most famous example). Others will not create tolerance (you still need the same dose to get the same effects, years after using that product) but will still put pressure on the body’s chemical equilibrium that wouldn’t exist without those compounds - when the reason they’re being used is that there was something wrong with the body in the first place, well, it becomes a cost/benefits analysis. ETA: I’m not trying to be technical here, I’m sure other people will come up with more technical details. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/3 "2012-11-21T11:04:03Z")
It may be possible to develop a tolerance to arsenic. Immunity, no. > **[What poisons can I safely take to build immunity to toxic substances? Does...](https://www.straightdope.com/21343869/what-poisons-can-i-safely-take-to-build-immunity-to-toxic-substances-does-eating-poison-ivy-build-re)** “To a limited extent, it is possible to build up a tolerance to certain poisonous metals. Metallothioneins are proteins produced in the body that, among other things, seem to bond to ions of dangerous elements like arsenic and cadmium and so help to minimize organ damage and other serious ill effects. While there’s no way to become immune to such poisons, chronic exposure to them may — I repeat, may — stimulate the body into upping its metallothionein output, thus allowing one to take on greater quantities of the toxic stuff before starting to get really sick.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/4 "2012-11-21T11:04:29Z")
There was a guy named Mithridates who tried this, then (as legend would have it) found himself unable to commit suicide. The practice of trying to acquire immunity is named after him. > **[Mithridatism](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism)** > > Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word is derived from Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity. > Mithridates VI's father, Mithridates V, was assassinated by poisoning by a conspiracy among his attendants. After this, Mithridates VI's mother held regency over Pontus (a Hellenistic kingdom, 281 BC–62 AD) until a male he... ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/5 "2012-11-21T12:43:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > There was a guy named Mithridates who tried this, then (as legend would have it) found himself unable to commit suicide. The practice of trying to acquire immunity is named after him. > > [Mithridatism - Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism) this is what I opened this thread to post! It was yesterday’s Word A Day! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/6 "2012-11-21T12:53:58Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Everyone knows that it’s possible to build up a strong tolerance to certain drugs with frequent use – alcohol, heroin, nicotine, etc. What about other, more lethal poisons? I can’t speak to heroin/nicotine/other drugs, but regarding alcohol, an addict develops a tolerance over time to the intoxicating effects - that is, as his addiction proceeds, it takes more and more alcohol to achieve a high. However, the important thing is that the LD[sub]50[/sub] doesn’t change. The result is that you have a guy who is drinking more and more each time in order to get drunk, trying to land his blood alcohol concentration in an increasingly narrow space between “buzzed” and “clinically dead.” If the addiction gets bad enough, that narrow space gets really narrow, and some day he screws up and drinks just a little too much, overshoots the safe zone and ends up dead. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/7 "2012-11-21T13:04:54Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > There was a guy named Mithridates who tried this, then (as legend would have it) found himself unable to commit suicide. The practice of trying to acquire immunity is named after him. > > [Mithridatism - Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism) It’s not simply legend. As I’ve observed before on this Board, herpetologist William E. Haast, founder of the Miami Serpentarium, practiced this. His blood was in demand as a treatment for snakebite where there was no available antivenin: > **[Bill Haast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Haast)** > > Bill Haast (December 30, 1910 – June 15, 2011) was the owner and operator, from 1947 until 1984, of the Miami Serpentarium, a tourist attraction south of Miami, Florida, where he entertained customers by performing live venom extraction from snakes. After closing the Serpentarium, he opened the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories, a facility in Punta Gorda, Florida that produced snake venom for medical and research use. Haast extracted venom from venomous snakes from the time he was a boy. > Haast phy... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/8 "2012-11-21T13:12:12Z")
Haast was bitten many times by cobras and other snakes, including mamba and krait. He lost sirculation in his hands near the end of his life, and lost a finger, but ffor years he suffered no ill effects. He died last yea ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/9 "2012-11-21T13:32:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Haast was bitten many times by cobras and other snakes, including mamba and krait. He lost sirculation in his hands near the end of his life, and lost a finger, but ffor years he suffered no ill effects. He died last yea And now you’re typing like you lost a finger or two. Handle snakes much? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/10 "2012-11-21T13:43:10Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > And now you’re typing like you lost a finger or two. Handle snakes much? 🙂 Ye! hy do y ask? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/11 "2012-11-21T14:37:13Z")
What snake bite leads to spelling errors? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/12 "2012-11-21T14:38:17Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > What snake bite leads to spelling errors? I don’t know, but the bite of an adder can lead to math errors. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/13 "2012-11-21T14:48:49Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > What snake bite leads to spelling errors? The cider and beer kind? ---
**Author:** ![Qwakkeddup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Qwakkeddup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwakkeddup)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/14 "2012-11-21T15:09:31Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The cider and beer kind? I thought that was dog bite? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/15 "2012-11-21T17:21:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s not simply legend. I didn’t say it was. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/16 "2012-11-21T17:28:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I didn’t say it was. This makes it sound like that: > [@](#): > > There was a guy named Mithridates who tried this, then (as legend would have it) found himself unable to commit suicide. The practice of trying to acquire immunity is named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/17 "2012-11-21T19:05:14Z")
How about electricity? I wonder if I can build up a tolerance if I shock myself repeatedly at slightly increasing doses. Off to test my theory… ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/18 "2012-11-21T19:46:24Z")
> [@](#): > > How about electricity? I wonder if I can build up a tolerance if I shock myself repeatedly at slightly increasing doses. A friend of mine installs control systems in dairies. Due to working with electricity in chronically wet conditions he said “I electrocute myself with monotonous regularity.” He has not yet developed an immunity. Perhaps I’ll suggest he needs to start upping his dosage to get any benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/19 "2012-11-21T22:36:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This makes it sound like that: No it doesn’t. It labels the account of him struggling to commit suicide as legendary, not the entire practice of Mithridatism. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706/20 "2012-11-21T22:51:13Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > A friend of mine installs control systems in dairies. Due to working with electricity in chronically wet conditions he said “I electrocute myself with monotonous regularity.” He has not yet developed an immunity. Perhaps I’ll suggest he needs to start upping his dosage to get any benefit. Well, of course, if one is [dead](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/electrocute) they can be shocked repeatedly with no ill effects. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-possible-to-build-up-an-immunity-to-iocane-powder/641706.md?page=2)