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In 2025, 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 frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” the singer stated. “It’s been a wild journey in both… regarding the band, it’s been the ride 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.”

Parallel to the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments living with diabetes. The struggles of controlling his disease have been the lows, while raising awareness and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his foundation have brought him joy.

“Overall, I’m really grateful 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 path, and it’s a really significant feeling to feel like you’re a little less alone in it,” said Jonas.

Nick Jonas’ A1C Shoutout to Fans

To thank his fans, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform during a Jonas Brothers concert and delighted his audience by sharing an uplifting message of hope, accompanied by a shout-out to his A1C.

“My A1C, which is a collection of numbers over a three-month period, was the most favorable it’s ever been, actually, most recently,” he revealed.

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 promote a message of strength, determination, and positivity.

“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 important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to tap into kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.

Jonas dedicated the song “A Little Bit Longer” — a tune 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 experiences when I was 14 and to see the impact 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 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 viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

Advancements in Type 1 Diabetes

In the past, 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 never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a licensed endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and more advanced, and eventually learned to ‘talk’ with the glucose monitors,” the doctor noted.

“Automated systems began adjusting insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the cognitive load people with type 1 bear every day.”

Jonas is amazed 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 amazing thing,” he said.

Alongside technology, new treatments aimed at managing diabetes and slowing or modifying the disease itself are being researched.

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was approved, and research into protecting or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating lab-grown pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to shield them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.

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

“More advancements will definitely continue to develop. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting nearer to changing the disease itself,” the expert concluded.

However, while another medical professional agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, mentally, and emotionally.

“I sincerely 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 told.

Jonas Turns to Self-Care to Control His Diabetes

In addition to medication and technology, Jonas shared some approaches he relies 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 super on top of 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 difficult to do at times, he said he learned to practice this early during his diagnosis.

Lately, he has focused on taking vitamins, looking after his skin, and staying hydrated.

“It’s a simple 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 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 walks daily for 30 minutes or longer for his bodily, cognitive, 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 inside 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 vital to do that self-work,” Jonas said.

Most of all, he urges everyone managing type 1 diabetes to engage with 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 experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.