The Way The Singer's Diabetes Management Has Changed Over Two Decades

This year, the number 20 carries particular meaning 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.

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” the singer stated. “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 most amazing fans.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the lows, while advocating and engaging 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 alone in it,” said Jonas.

The Singer's A1C Announcement to Fans

To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he took to the stage during a Jonas Brothers concert and delighted 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, actually, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was visited by members of a global community — a collective of over 30,000 people globally who share 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 clearly very personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get introspective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person living with this condition,” he said.

Jonas dedicated 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 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 impact it still has to this day with the audience,” he said.

While the song has taken on a new meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an important piece to persevering.”

Advancements in Type 1 Diabetes

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, guesswork, and vigilance, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the expert explained.

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

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

“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 slowing or altering the disease itself are in development.

“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was approved, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from immune attack,” said the specialist.

“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered to become active only when blood sugar rises, 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 changing the disease itself,” the physician stated.

However, while a family physician concurs that further advancements will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, mentally, and emotionally.

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

Jonas Turns to Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some strategies he relies on to handle his diabetes.

First, he said he learned to take pressure off 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 beyond your influence 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 early during his diagnosis.

Recently, he has focused on 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 better. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that drinking water has a lot of health benefits,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much emphasis on it earlier in my life as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”

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

“It really centers 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 leans on his therapist frequently, too.

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

Above all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.

“There will be positive days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” said Jonas.