I want to provide an understanding of acupuncture in a framework that would be understood and potentially accepted by Western scientists and physicians. Rigorous science leading to a clear understanding of mechanism is the strength of Western medicine - and a weakness of Eastern medicine. Li, now working in Longhurst's UCI research lab, said that in approaching Longhurst he had been seeking the help of a Western scientist specifically because acupuncture needed the scrutiny of Western scientific method. They perform tests on the heart muscle, give medicine for the heart muscle. Then you can develop.
China stays backward because it is closed.
That's why the United States is so advanced - because it accepts most things from around the world. Cho wasn't seriously hurt, but he continued to have back pain until he gave in to his family's urging to try acupuncture. On his next trip to Korea, during a 1996-97 sabbatical, Cho decided to stop in at an acupuncture training school and ask questions. He explained yin and yang, this and that. Cho didn't understand it, so he tried asking questions that would relate to the work he had been doing, using fMRI to study how the brain handles vision.