The Way The Singer's Diabetes Management Has Changed During 20 Years

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.

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey in both… regarding the band, 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.”

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 low points, while raising awareness and engaging others through his role and through his non-profit have brought him joy.

“In summary, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open 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 big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” he added.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to His Audience

To show appreciation to supporters, 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 shout-out to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a average of numbers over a 90-day period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a network of over 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of strength, 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 important 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 managing this disease,” he said.

Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote at the start of 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 fan base,” 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 supported me in so many various moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more positive 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 Type 1 Diabetes

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections.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

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

Jonas is amazed with how far technology has advanced 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 amazing thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or modifying the disease itself are in development.

“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s start was authorized, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.

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

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

However, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and addressing the challenges and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Self-Care to Control His Diabetes

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

To begin, 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 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 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 more stable. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health benefits,” said Jonas. “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 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 indoors for hours at a concert hall 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.

Most of 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 remarkable people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.