Watching the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it seemed almost unfathomable that, up until Nixon's historic trip in 1971, China had essentially been closed to the outside world.

In the early 1970s, China was just coming out of its Cultural Revolution, and the U.S. was in the throes of our own with the Vietnam War. One of the reporters covering Nixon's trip, James Reston, became ill when in China and needed emergency surgery. This single event—and the subsequent article describing his experience, published in the New York Times on July 26, 1971¹—was the tipping point that sparked a sweeping transformation for American health care.

James Reston was treated for appendicitis in a Beijing hospital according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the major medical system used in China. Specifically, he was treated using acupuncture.

The U.S. was, in some ways, ripe for alternative medicine. Homeopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Chiropractic Medicine, herbal medicine, massage therapy, and other types of complementary medical care were available. However, most were not legal nor in any way considered "legitimate." In order to access such therapies, one had to be both knowledgeable and relentless in finding a practitioner. Once you located a practitioner, the quality of care could be questionable.

Fast forward 38 years: In 1998, the National Institute of Health (NIH) established the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). It since has received millions of dollars in funding to study the efficacy of acupuncture, meditation, massage, energy healing, and other types of nontraditional medicine.

Major medical centers across the country also have established integrative medicine departments. Acupuncture, massage, and meditation are integral therapies in most cancer treatment programs across the country. Almost every women's fertility clinic has at least one acupuncturist or doctor of Oriental medicine on staff.  Herb and supplement companies are multibillion dollar industries, as is the natural food market. Nontraditional medicine seems to have become much more of an American tradition...