- Frontman Nick Jonas has managed type 1 diabetes for 20 years.
- The band's “JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour” celebrates its 20th anniversary concurrent with Nick Jonas’s 20-year journey with diabetes.
- Nick Jonas discusses how both milestones have impacted his life and how he uses his music to promote understanding for type 1 diabetes.
In 2025, the number 20 holds special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.
While the band commemorates their 20th year as a band, 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 a wild journey in both… in the Brothers sense, it’s been the adventure of a lifetime, and we’ve been so blessed 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 great and tough moments managing diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the lows, while raising awareness and engaging others through his role and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.
“In summary, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all corners 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 alone in it,” said Jonas.
The Singer's A1C Announcement to His Audience
To show appreciation to supporters, 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, along with a mention to his A1C.
“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a 90-day period, was the most favorable it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.
The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a network of over 30,000 people globally who share their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of resilience, determination, 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 33-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 affected by 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 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 pertinent.
“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many various 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 viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”
Progress in Type 1 Diabetes
Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant cycle of needles, estimation, and care, as stated by a board certified endocrinologist.
“Delivery devices superseded 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 adjusting insulin automatically, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load 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 instant data of my glucose straight to 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.
In addition to technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or modifying the disease itself are being researched.
“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 gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from the body's defenses,” the doctor continued.
“Responsive insulin” is also being developed to activate only when glucose levels increase, offering a future where insulin works as intuitively as the body once did.
“Further progress will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.
However, while a family physician concurs that additional innovations will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, mentally, and emotionally.
“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the burdens and the demands of living with and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.
Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes
Beyond medication and technology, Jonas shared some strategies he leans on to handle his diabetes.
To begin, he said he learned to be less hard on himself.
“You’re never going to have the perfect 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 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 difficult to do at times, he said he learned to practice this early during his diagnosis.
Recently, he has focused on taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying well-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 drinking water has a lot of health benefits,” 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, mental, and psychological 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 venue or on a movie location or something,” he said.
He relies 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 challenging days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose stories will really inspire anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.
