The Way The Singer's Management of Diabetes Has Evolved During Two Decades

This year, the number 20 carries special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 also marks 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

“The alignment is remarkable,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey in both… regarding the band, it’s been the adventure of a lifetime, and we’ve been so blessed to be able to do this for 20 years now and to have the support of the world’s greatest fans.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the lows, while advocating and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit have brought him joy.

“In summary, I’m really grateful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all corners of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes journey, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” said Jonas.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience

To show appreciation to supporters, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform during a Jonas Brothers concert and surprised his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, along with a shout-out to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a average of numbers over a three-month period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.

The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a collective of over 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, determination, and positivity.

“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s clearly very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get reflective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.

Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, to those living with the disease.

“It’s a really significant time for me to get to speak on stage like that and play a song that I wrote about these challenges when I was 14 and to see the impact it still has to this day with the audience,” he said.

While the song has assumed a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I am part of that has lifted me up in so many different moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and mindset and perspective and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and care, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.

“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 bear every day.”

Jonas is impressed with how far technology has advanced since he was first diagnosed.

“The fact that I can receive instant data of my glucose straight to my phone or smart watch or it can be [shared with] my wife or other family members when I am apart from is just an amazing thing,” he said.

Alongside technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or modifying the disease itself are in development.

“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was approved, and research into protecting or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to protect them from immune attack,” said the specialist.

“Smart insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when blood sugar increase, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.

“Further progress will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting nearer to changing the disease itself,” the expert concluded.

Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that further advancements will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — physically, cognitively, and emotionally.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and addressing the burdens and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes

In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches he leans on to manage his diabetes.

To begin, he said he learned to take pressure off himself.

“You’re never going to have the ideal day while managing this disease and even if you’re super on top of your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little beyond your influence and being able to pause, recalibrate, and know that it’s going to be OK on the other side is really important,” he said.

While this is difficult to do at times, he said he learned to practice this early during his diagnosis.

Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying hydrated.

“It’s a basic thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are more stable. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health benefits,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much emphasis on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”

He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, mental, and emotional health.

“It really grounds me and even when it’s cold out, getting out in the open air is really important when a lot of my day, too, is spent inside for hours at a concert hall or on a movie location or something,” he said.

He relies on his therapist regularly, too.

“I think it’s really important to do that self-work,” Jonas said.

Above all, he encourages everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.

“There will be good days, there will be tough days, but you can climb this challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.