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

In 2025, the number 20 carries particular meaning for iconic singer Nick Jonas.

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

“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 ride 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.”

Parallel to the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging 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 connect 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 alone in it,” he added.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans

To show appreciation to supporters, 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, accompanied by 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,” said Jonas.

The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a network of over 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, determination, and positivity.

“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very important 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 thirty-three-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.

Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote at the start of his career and diabetes experience, to those affected by 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 impact 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 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 perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Advancements in Diabetes Management

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and care, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.

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

Jonas is impressed with how far technology has improved since he was first diagnosed.

“The fact that I can receive real time readings 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.

Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or modifying the disease itself are in development.

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s start was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” said the specialist.

“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 absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.

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

“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the burdens and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he commented.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

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

First, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.

“You’re never going to have the ideal 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 apply this early during his diagnosis.

Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying hydrated.

“It’s a simple 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 earlier in my life as I do now, and it’s been really helpful.”

He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, cognitive, 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 inside for hours at a concert hall or on a film set or something,” he said.

He relies on his therapist frequently, too.

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

Most of all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.

“There will be good days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this challenge, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose stories will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.