- Lead singer Nick Jonas has been living with type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The group's “Anniversary Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how both milestones have influenced his life and how he uses his music to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.
“It’s crazy how it lined up,” the singer stated. “It’s been a wild journey 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 struggles of controlling his disease have been the lows, while raising awareness and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit have brought him joy.
“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to interact with all these wonderful people from all corners 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 isolated in it,” he added.
Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans
To thank his fans, 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 three-month period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.
The show was attended by members of a global community — a collective of over 30,000 people globally who share their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, perseverance, and optimism.
“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s clearly very important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to explore sort of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person managing 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 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 challenges when I was 14 and to see the effect 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 supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Progress in Diabetes Management
In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, estimation, and vigilance, according to a licensed endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the doctor noted.
“Automated systems began adjusting insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that alleviate some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry 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 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 therapies aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or modifying the disease itself are in development.
“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s start was approved, and research into protecting or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” said the specialist.
“Smart insulin” is also being developed to activate only when blood sugar 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 improving tools; we’re getting nearer to changing the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
However, while another medical professional agrees that further advancements will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, cognitively, and emotionally.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the burdens and the requirements of having and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some approaches he leans on to manage his diabetes.
To begin, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.
“You’re never going to have the perfect day while managing 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, 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 soon after his diagnosis.
Lately, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for 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,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much emphasis on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”
He also takes 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 fresh air is really important when a lot of my day, too, is spent inside for hours at a venue 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 personal development,” Jonas said.
Above all, he encourages 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 climb this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.
