How The Singer's Management of Diabetes Has Transformed During the Past 20 Years

This year, the number 20 carries particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

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

“The alignment is remarkable,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey in both… in the Brothers sense, 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 most amazing fans.”

Parallel to 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 low points, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his non-profit have brought him joy.

“In summary, I’m really grateful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to interact with all these wonderful people from all regions 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,” he added.

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 delighted his audience by sharing an inspiring message of hope, along with a mention to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a average of numbers over a three-month period, was the best it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was visited by members of a global community — a network of more than 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of strength, perseverance, and optimism.

“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 introspective and to tap into kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.

Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes experience, to those affected by the disease.

“It’s a really important time for me to get to speak on stage like that and play a song that I wrote about these experiences 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 meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has supported me in so many various moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant cycle of injections, estimation, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.

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

Jonas is amazed with how far technology has improved 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 treatments aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or altering the disease itself are in development.

“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s onset was approved, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” the doctor continued.

“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to become active only when glucose levels increase, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.

“More advancements will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.

Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — physically, mentally, and psychologically.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and addressing the challenges and the requirements of living with and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.

Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Control 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 perfect 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 out of your control and being able to pause, recalibrate, and know that it’s going to be OK on the other side is really crucial,” he said.

While this is hard to do at times, he said he learned to practice this soon after his diagnosis.

Lately, he has prioritized taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying well-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 beneficial.”

He also takes walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, cognitive, and psychological health.

“It really centers me and even when it’s cold out, getting out in the fresh 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 frequently, too.

“I think it’s really important to do that personal development,” Jonas said.

Most of all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.

“There will be positive days, there will be challenging days, but you can scale this challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.