Nixon, Appendicitis, and Acupuncture

In 1971, a man by the name of James Restonsurgery are the events that sealed the fate of
was visiting China and became sick.  He wasChinese medicine in the West.  During his
taken to a hospital and diagnosed withrecuperation, Reston experienced a great deal of
appendicitis.  Shortly after, Reston underwentpost-operative pain.  Rather than immediately
surgery and his appendix was removed, settinggiving him standard pain killers, the Chinese
off a chain of events that is responsible for thedoctors performed acupuncture to relieve his
mushrooming interest and acceptance ofpain.  To Reston’s astonishment, the
acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the Unitedacupuncture worked! 
States.Reston came home and wrote an article about his
Certainly, Chinese medicine wasn’t new to theexperience with acupuncture in the New York
United States in 1971.  With the influx of ChineseTimes.  Reston who was also an acquaintance of
immigrants who helped build our railroads andDr. Kissinger, told Kissinger about his encounter
worked in the gold fields, Chinese medicinewith acupuncture, and Kissinger passed the story
followed.  However, it was delegated to the backon to President Nixon.  The President was so
rooms of China towns in cities across the nationimpressed with the story that he instituted a
and thought of as something akin toprogram in which traditional Chinese doctors came
voodoo—that is until James Reston’sto the United States to share their medicine, and
appendix heated up.American doctors were sent to China for the
James Reston was a reporter for the New Yorksame purpose.  In the years following, Chinese
Times in 1971.  He was in China in advance of Dr.medicine in the United States began to take off.
Henry Kissinger’s famous trip, which wouldWhen people say that President Nixon is
occur a few weeks later.  When Reston got sick,responsible for the acceptance of Chinese
he received typical Western-style care in themedicine in the United States, it’s true. 
form of immediate surgery to remove hisHowever, the source of the story begins with an
appendix.  However, what happened afterinflamed appendix.