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

In 2025, the number 20 holds particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

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

“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 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 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the lows, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation 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 path, and it’s a really significant feeling 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 took to the stage during a Jonas Brothers concert and delighted his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, accompanied by 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 visited by members of a global community — a collective of over 30,000 people worldwide who share 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’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to tap into sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.

Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote at the start of 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 fan base,” he said.

While the song has taken on a new significance 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 perspective is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

Advancements in Diabetes Management

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times daily. This was a constant cycle of injections, estimation, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.

“Automated systems began adjusting insulin on their own, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the mental burden people with type 1 carry every day.”

Jonas is amazed with how far technology has improved 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.

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 delaying type 1’s start was approved, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.

“Responsive insulin” is also being developed to become active only when blood sugar increase, 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 closer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.

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

“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and helping with the challenges and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes

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

To begin, 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 out of your control and being able to take a deep breath, recalibrate, 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 early during his diagnosis.

Lately, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for 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 hydrating has a lot of health benefits,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much emphasis 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 centers 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 concert hall or on a movie location or something,” he said.

He relies on his therapist frequently, too.

“I think it’s really vital to do that personal development,” Jonas said.

Above all, he urges 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 remarkable people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.