How Nick Jonas' Diabetes Management Has Changed During Two Decades

This year, the number 20 carries particular meaning for iconic singer Nick Jonas.

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

“The alignment is remarkable,” the singer stated. “It’s been a wild journey in both… in the Brothers sense, 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.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments living with diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the lows, while raising awareness and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.

“In summary, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all corners 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,” said Jonas.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans

To show appreciation to supporters, 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 90-day period, was the most favorable it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.

The show was visited by members of a global community — a network of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of resilience, perseverance, and positivity.

“It was really meaningful for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage 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 tap into sort 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 melody he wrote early in 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 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 meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has supported me in so many various moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while managing this disease and mindset and perspective and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

Progress in Type 1 Diabetes

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five insulin injections a day and finger sticks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and care, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.

“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift 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 instant data 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 managing diabetes and delaying or modifying the disease itself are being researched.

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

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

“Further progress will definitely continue to develop. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.

Nevertheless, while a family physician agrees that further advancements will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — in terms of health, mentally, and emotionally.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to talking about and addressing the challenges and the demands of having and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

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

To begin, 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 super on top of your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little out of your control and being able to pause, recalibrate, and know that it’s going to be OK on the other side is really important,” he said.

While this is difficult to do at times, he said he learned to practice this soon after his diagnosis.

Lately, he has focused on 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 precisely why, but I just find that hydrating 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 takes 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 open air is really important when a lot of my day, too, is spent indoors for hours at a concert hall or on a film set or something,” he said.

He leans on his therapist frequently, too.

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

Most of all, he encourages everyone living with 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 difficult times,” said Jonas.