Mark Hyman at TEDMED 2012.

TEDMED 2012 speaker Mark Hyman, M.D., best-selling author and Chairman of the Institute of Functional Medicine, wowed the TEDMED audience with his story of how community support — in this case, wellness programs delivered via prayer groups — helped 15,000 people lose some 250,000 pounds.

Hyman recently appeared on BigThink.com explaining functional medicine, how it sees disease as systemic rather than an isolated ill, and why it takes lifestyle changes to manage chronic disease. Watch now, and stay tuned for his TEDMED talk — we’ll be releasing videos over the coming weeks.