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In 2025, the number 20 carries special significance for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

While the band commemorates their 20th year as a band, 2025 simultaneously signifies 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.

“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 world’s greatest fans.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had great and tough moments living with diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the low points, while raising awareness 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 transparent about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all regions 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 alone in it,” he added.

The Singer's A1C Announcement 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 average of numbers over a 90-day period, was the best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was attended by members of a global community — a network 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 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 reflective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now 33-year-old person living with this disease,” he said.

Jonas offered 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 belong to that has supported me in so many various moments. I think my perspective is perhaps a lot more positive now. It is possible to live a full, active life while living with this disease and mindset and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

Progress 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 daily. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, estimation, and vigilance, according to a licensed endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps replaced multiple daily insulin injections. With time, insulin pumps became less bulky and smarter, and eventually learned to ‘communicate’ with the sensors,” the expert explained.

“Automated systems began modifying insulin on their own, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the cognitive load people with type 1 carry 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 when I am apart from is just an amazing thing,” he said.

In addition to technology, new therapies aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or altering the disease itself are in development.

“The first immune-therapy capable of postponing type 1’s onset was approved, and research into preserving or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells gained 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,” said the specialist.

“Smart insulin” is also being engineered to activate only when blood sugar increase, offering a future where insulin works as naturally as the body once did.

“Further progress will definitely 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 points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding task — in terms of health, mentally, and psychologically.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more attention to discussing and helping with the burdens and the requirements of having and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he commented.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

Beyond medication and technology, Jonas discussed some strategies he leans on to manage his diabetes.

First, 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 pause, recalibrate, 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 apply this early during his diagnosis.

Lately, he has prioritized taking vitamins, caring for 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,” said Jonas. “I didn’t put as much emphasis 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 bodily, 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 inside for hours at a concert hall or on a movie location or something,” he said.

He leans on his therapist frequently, 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 take part in the diabetes community.

“There will be positive days, there will be tough days, but you can scale this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through tough moments,” he concluded.