- Lead singer Nick Jonas has managed type 1 diabetes for two decades.
- The group's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary alongside Nick Jonas’s two-decade experience with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas shares how these two anniversaries have influenced his life and how he leverages his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 carries particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year together, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their lead singer'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 world’s greatest fans.”
Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the lows, while advocating and connecting with 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 journey, 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 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, in fact, most recently,” he revealed.
The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a network of over 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help spread 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 personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get reflective and to explore sort of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person managing this disease,” 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 effect it still has to this day with the fan base,” he said.
While the song has taken on a new significance for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.
“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I belong to 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 big, busy life while managing this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Advancements 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 constant cycle of injections, guesswork, and care, according to a licensed endocrinologist.
“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.
“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ 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 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 when I am apart from is just an amazing thing,” he said.
Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes 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 substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from immune attack,” said the specialist.
“Responsive insulin” is also being developed to activate only when glucose levels increase, offering a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.
“Further progress will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.
However, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, cognitively, and psychologically.
“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and helping with the challenges and the demands of living with and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he told.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed some strategies he leans on to manage his diabetes.
To begin, he said he learned to take pressure off 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 out of your control 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 soon after 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 more stable. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that hydrating has a lot of health advantages,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much emphasis 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, mental, and emotional 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 indoors 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 vital to do that self-work,” Jonas said.
Above all, he encourages everyone living with type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.
“There will be good days, there will be challenging days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose stories will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.
