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

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

While the band commemorates their 20th year as a band, 2025 also marks 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… regarding the band, 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 world’s greatest 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 raising awareness and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have been a source of happiness.

“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to interact with all these amazing 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 alone in it,” said Jonas.

The Singer's A1C Announcement to Fans

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 uplifting message of hope, along with a mention to his A1C.

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

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

“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 natural 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 disease,” he said.

Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune 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 experiences 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 pertinent.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I am part of that has lifted me up in so many various moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

Advancements in Diabetes Management

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant cycle of needles, estimation, and care, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.

“Delivery devices superseded multiple daily insulin injections.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

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

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

“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 when I am apart from is just an amazing thing,” he said.

Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or altering the disease itself are being researched.

“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.

“Smart insulin” is also being engineered to become active only when blood sugar rises, 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 nearer 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 — physically, cognitively, and emotionally.

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

The Singer Employs Self-Care to Control His Diabetes

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

First, he said he learned to take pressure off himself.

“You’re never going to have the ideal day living with this disease and even if you’re very diligent with 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 crucial,” he said.

While this is difficult to do at times, he said he learned to apply this early during his diagnosis.

Lately, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying hydrated.

“It’s a simple thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are more stable. I don’t know exactly 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 earlier in my life as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”

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 indoors for hours at a concert hall or on a movie location or something,” he said.

He leans on his therapist frequently, too.

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

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

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