How The Singer's Diabetes Management Has Transformed Over Two Decades

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

As the Jonas Brothers celebrate 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… 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 most amazing fans.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the low points, while advocating and connecting with others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.

“Overall, I’m really grateful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to interact with all these amazing people from all corners 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 alone in it,” said Jonas.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience

To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform during a Jonas Brothers concert and surprised 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 most favorable it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a network of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, determination, and positivity.

“It was really meaningful for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ platform 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 introspective and to explore sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing this disease,” he said.

Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, to those living with 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 effect 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 relevant.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many different moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Progress in Type 1 Diabetes

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a constant cycle of needles, guesswork, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections.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

“Automated systems 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 amazed with how far technology has improved since he was first identified.

“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 who I’m traveling away from is just an incredible thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or altering the disease itself are in development.

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting 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 testing ways to protect them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.

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

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

Nevertheless, while a family physician concurs that further advancements will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive undertaking — in terms of health, cognitively, and psychologically.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and helping with the challenges and the demands of living with and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes

Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he leans on to manage his diabetes.

To begin, he said he learned to be less hard on 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, 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 apply this early during his diagnosis.

Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying 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 focus 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, 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 relies on his therapist regularly, 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 challenging days, but you can climb this challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.