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

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

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

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” Jonas remarked. “It's been an incredible ride in both… in the Brothers sense, it’s been the ride of a lifetime, and we’ve been so fortunate 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 low points, while advocating and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have brought him joy.

“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all regions of the world who are navigating their own diabetes path, and it’s a really significant feeling to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” said Jonas.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans

To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he took to the stage during a Jonas Brothers concert and surprised his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, accompanied by a mention to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a collection 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 network of over 30,000 people worldwide who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of strength, perseverance, and positivity.

“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get reflective and to tap into sort 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 tune he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, to those affected by 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 experiences when I was 14 and to see the effect it still has to this day with the fan base,” he said.

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

“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my perspective is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

Advancements in Diabetes Management

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, estimation, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.

“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry every day.”

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

“The fact that I can receive instant data of my glucose directly on 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 incredible thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or altering the disease itself are being researched.

“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to protect them from the body's defenses,” the doctor continued.

“Smart insulin” is also being developed to become active only when blood sugar rises, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.

“Further progress will definitely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting nearer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.

Nevertheless, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to develop, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, mentally, and emotionally.

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

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches he relies on to handle his diabetes.

First, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.

“You’re never going to have the perfect day living with 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, reset, and know that it’s going to be OK on the other side is really important,” he said.

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

Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for 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 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 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 leans on his therapist regularly, too.

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

Most of all, he encourages everyone living with type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.

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