🔗 Share this article

This year, the number 20 carries special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

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

“The alignment is remarkable,” 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.”

Parallel to the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The struggles 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.

“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to interact with all these wonderful people from all regions of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes path, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” he added.

The Singer's A1C Announcement to His Audience

To thank his fans, 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 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,” said Jonas.

The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a collective of more than 30,000 people worldwide who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of resilience, determination, and optimism.

“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 reflective 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 at the start of his career and diabetes experience, to those living with 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 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 relevant.

“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 perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and outlook 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 glucose checks 10 or more times daily. This was a constant cycle of needles, estimation, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices 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 adjusting insulin automatically, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 carry every day.”

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

“The fact that I can receive real time readings 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 incredible thing,” he said.

Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or modifying 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 gained real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to protect them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.

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

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

Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that further advancements will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — 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 burdens and the requirements of living with and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes

In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches he relies on to manage 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 beyond your influence and being able to take a deep breath, 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 apply this soon after his diagnosis.

Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying well-hydrated.

“It’s a simple thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are better. I don’t know precisely why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health advantages,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much focus on it earlier in my life as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”

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

“It really grounds 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 indoors 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 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 positive days, there will be tough 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,” said Jonas.