How Nick Jonas' Diabetes Management Has Evolved During Two Decades

This year, the number 20 carries special significance 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 diagnosis.

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey 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 great and tough moments living with diabetes. The difficulties of managing his condition have been the lows, while advocating and connecting with 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 transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these wonderful people from all regions of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes journey, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” said Jonas.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans

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 uplifting message of hope, accompanied by a mention to his A1C.

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

The show was visited 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 positivity.

“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage 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 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 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 experiences 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 assumed a new meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.

“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 feasible to live a full, active life while managing this disease and outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Advancements 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 each day. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, estimation, and care, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.

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

“Algorithms began adjusting insulin automatically, creating combined ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 carry every day.”

Jonas is impressed 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 amazing thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or altering the disease itself are being researched.

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, and research into protecting or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to shield them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.

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

“More advancements will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.

However, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes 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 discussing and addressing the burdens and the demands of living with and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he commented.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes

Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches he relies on to handle his diabetes.

First, 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 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 prioritized taking vitamins, looking after 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 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 helpful.”

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 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 regularly, too.

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

Above all, he encourages everyone managing type 1 diabetes to take part in the diabetes community.

“There will be positive days, there will be challenging days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some incredible people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.