How The Singer's Management of Diabetes Has Changed During 20 Years

This year, the number 20 carries special significance for iconic singer Nick Jonas.

As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

“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 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 two decades, he said he has had great and tough moments living with 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.

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

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience

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 inspiring 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 most favorable it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was attended by members of a global community — a network of over 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, determination, and optimism.

“It was really meaningful 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 reflective and to explore sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.

Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote at the start of his career and diabetes journey, 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 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 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 lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my perspective is possibly a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots 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.

“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections.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

“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the cognitive load people with type 1 bear 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 who I’m traveling away from is just an amazing thing,” he said.

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

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset 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 growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” said the specialist.

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

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

However, while a family physician concurs that further advancements will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the burdens and the demands of living with and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.

Jonas Turns to Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

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

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

“You’re never going to have the ideal 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.

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 better. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that drinking water has a lot of health advantages,” said Jonas. “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 takes 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 venue 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 personal development,” Jonas said.

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

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