How The Singer's Diabetes Management Has Transformed Over the Past 20 Years

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

As the Jonas Brothers celebrate 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,” the singer stated. “It's been an incredible ride 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 most amazing fans.”

Parallel to the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the lows, while raising awareness and connecting with others as a spokesperson 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 navigating their own diabetes path, and it’s a really significant feeling to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” he added.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout 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 mention to his A1C.

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

The show was visited by members of a global community — a collective of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of resilience, perseverance, 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 clearly 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 thirty-three-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.

Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote early in his career and diabetes journey, 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 audience,” he said.

While the song has taken on a new meaning 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 supported me in so many different moments. I think my perspective is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant cycle of injections, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.

“Algorithms began adjusting insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘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 diagnosed.

“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 amazing thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new treatments aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or altering the disease itself are being researched.

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset 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 growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from immune attack,” said the specialist.

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

“Further progress will definitely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to changing 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, cognitively, and emotionally.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the burdens and the demands of having and managing T1D. We need much 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 manage 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 very diligent with your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little out of your control and being able to pause, reset, 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 practice this early during his diagnosis.

Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, looking after 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 helpful.”

He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, mental, and psychological 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 leans on his therapist regularly, too.

“I think it’s really important to do that self-work,” Jonas said.

Most of all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.

“There will be good days, there will be challenging days, but you can scale this challenge, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” said Jonas.