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This year, the number 20 holds special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

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

“The alignment is remarkable,” Jonas remarked. “It's been an incredible ride 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 wonderful and challenging moments living with diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the lows, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.

“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all regions of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes path, 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 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, accompanied by a mention to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a 90-day period, was the best it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” said Jonas.

The show was attended by members of a worldwide group — a collective of more than 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of resilience, perseverance, and optimism.

“It was really meaningful for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ platform as a place to speak about something that’s obviously very personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get introspective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.

Jonas offered the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a melody he wrote at the start of 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 challenges when I was 14 and to see the impact it still has to this day with the audience,” 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 great, big community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many different moments. I think my outlook is possibly a lot more optimistic now. It is possible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an important piece to persevering.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five daily shots a day and glucose checks 10 or more times daily. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, estimation, and vigilance, according to a licensed endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the expert explained.

“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘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 advanced since he was first diagnosed.

“The fact that I can receive real time readings 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.

Alongside technology, new therapies aimed at controlling the condition and delaying or altering the disease itself are being researched.

“The first immunotherapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was approved, and research into preserving or even replacing 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,” the doctor continued.

“Smart insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when blood sugar increase, promising 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 nearer to transforming the disease itself,” the physician stated.

However, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to develop, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — physically, mentally, and psychologically.

“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus 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 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 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 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 crucial,” he said.

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

Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying well-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 drinking water has a lot of health benefits,” 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 takes walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, cognitive, and emotional health.

“It really grounds 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 inside for hours at a venue or on a movie location 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 urges everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.

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