How Nick Jonas' Management of Diabetes Has Transformed Over the Past 20 Years

This year, the number 20 carries particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 also marks 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes discovery.

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” 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 two decades, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the low points, while raising awareness and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.

“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 journey, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less alone in it,” he added.

The Singer's A1C Announcement to His Audience

To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform 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 average 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 collective of over 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of strength, perseverance, and positivity.

“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 important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person living with this condition,” he said.

Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote early in his career and diabetes experience, to those living with 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 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 vast, supportive community that I belong to that has supported me in so many various moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an important piece to powering through.”

Progress in Type 1 Diabetes

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and care, according to 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 glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.

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

Jonas is amazed 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 incredible thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and slowing or modifying the disease itself are in development.

“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s start was approved, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to protect them from immune attack,” said the specialist.

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

However, while another medical professional concurs that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — in terms of health, cognitively, and psychologically.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and helping with the burdens and the demands of living with and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he commented.

The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes

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

First, he said he learned to take pressure off 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 apply this soon after 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 better. I don’t know precisely why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health advantages,” 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 grounds 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 venue or on a film set or something,” he said.

He relies on his therapist regularly, 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 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.