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In 2025, the number 20 holds particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

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

“The alignment is remarkable,” the singer stated. “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 world’s greatest fans.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the low points, while advocating and engaging others through his role and through his non-profit have brought him joy.

“Overall, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to interact 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 isolated in it,” he added.

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 surprised 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 three-month period, was the most favorable it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” he revealed.

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

“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 important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to explore sort of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person managing this condition,” he said.

Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune he wrote early in his career and diabetes experience, 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 experiences when I was 14 and to see the effect it still has to this day with the audience,” he said.

While the song has assumed 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 supported me in so many various 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 outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Progress in Diabetes Management

Not long ago, life with type 1 diabetes meant more than five daily shots a day and finger sticks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

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

“Algorithms began modifying insulin automatically, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that alleviate 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 diagnosed.

“The fact that I can receive instant data of my glucose directly on 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 amazing thing,” he said.

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

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s start was approved, and research into protecting or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from the body's defenses,” the doctor continued.

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

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

However, while another medical professional concurs that additional innovations will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — physically, cognitively, and emotionally.

“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to discussing and addressing the challenges and the demands of having and controlling 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 strategies he relies on to manage his diabetes.

To begin, he said he learned to take pressure off 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, recalibrate, 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 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 drinking water has a lot of health benefits,” he noted. “I didn’t put as much focus on it when I was younger as I do now, and it’s been really beneficial.”

He also walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his physical, 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 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 personal development,” Jonas said.

Most of all, he encourages everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.

“There will be positive days, there will be challenging days, but you can scale this challenge, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” said Jonas.