How The Singer's Diabetes Management Has Evolved During 20 Years

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

While the band commemorates their 20th year as a band, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” Jonas remarked. “It's been an incredible ride 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 struggles of managing his condition have been the low points, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.

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

The Singer's A1C Announcement to His Audience

To show appreciation to supporters, 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, along with a mention to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a three-month period, was the best it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was attended by members of a global community — a network of more than 30,000 people worldwide who discuss 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’ stage 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 tap into kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person managing this disease,” he said.

Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote early in 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 effect it still has to this day with the fan base,” he said.

While the song has assumed a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.

“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I am part of that has lifted me up in so many different 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 outlook and perspective and all that is an important piece to persevering.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and care, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the expert explained.

“Algorithms began adjusting insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that alleviate some of the cognitive load people with type 1 bear every day.”

Jonas is impressed 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 who I’m traveling away from is just an amazing thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new treatments aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or modifying 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 stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.

“Smart insulin” is also being developed to activate only when glucose levels increase, promising a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.

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

Nevertheless, while another medical professional agrees that additional innovations will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — physically, cognitively, and psychologically.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the challenges and the requirements of living with and managing T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he commented.

Jonas Turns to Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches 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 while managing 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 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 hydrated.

“It’s a basic thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are more stable. I don’t know precisely why, but I just find that drinking water has a lot of health advantages,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much focus on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”

He also 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 indoors 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 self-work,” Jonas said.

Most of all, he encourages everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.

“There will be good days, there will be challenging days, but you can climb this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.