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In 2025, the number 20 carries special significance for iconic singer Nick Jonas.

As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year as a band, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their lead singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

“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 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 20 years, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the lows, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.

“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open 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.

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 surprised his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, along with a shout-out to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a average of numbers over a three-month period, was the best it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” said Jonas.

The show was attended by members of a global community — a network of more than 30,000 people worldwide who share their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, 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 introspective and to tap into 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 at the start of his career and diabetes experience, 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 impact it still has to this day with the audience,” he said.

While the song has assumed a new meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still relevant.

“Now I [have] this vast, supportive community that I am part of that has supported me in so many different moments. I think my outlook 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 important piece to powering through.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes involved 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 vigilance, as stated by a licensed endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became lighter and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the glucose monitors,” the expert explained.

“Algorithms began adjusting insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 bear every day.”

Jonas is impressed with how far technology has advanced since he was first identified.

“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 incredible thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or modifying the disease itself are being researched.

“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was authorized, 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 blood sugar rises, promising a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.

“More advancements will absolutely continue to develop. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting nearer to changing 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 discussing and helping with the challenges and the requirements of living with and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Self-Care to Manage His Diabetes

In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches 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 ideal 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, 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 advantages,” said Jonas. “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 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 inside for hours at a concert hall or on a film set or something,” he said.

He relies on his therapist regularly, too.

“I think it’s really vital to do that personal development,” Jonas said.

Above all, he urges 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 challenge, and there’s some incredible people out there whose stories will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.