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In 2025, the number 20 holds particular meaning for iconic singer Nick Jonas.

As the Jonas Brothers celebrate their 20th year as a band, 2025 also marks 20 years since their frontman's type 1 diabetes discovery.

“The alignment is remarkable,” the singer stated. “It’s been a wild journey in both… in the Brothers sense, 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.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last 20 years, he said he has had great and tough moments living with diabetes. The struggles of managing his condition have been the low points, while raising awareness and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have brought him joy.

“Overall, I’m really grateful to have been able to be transparent 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 His Audience

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 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, actually, most recently,” he revealed.

The show was visited by members of a worldwide group — a network of over 30,000 people globally who discuss their experiences with diabetes to help spread a message of strength, determination, 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 important to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s fitting to get introspective and to explore kind of what life looks like for me as a now thirty-three-year-old person living with this condition,” he said.

Jonas offered 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 challenges when I was 14 and to see the effect 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 pertinent.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I am part of that has lifted me up in so many different moments. I think my perspective is possibly a lot more positive now. It is feasible to live a big, busy life while living with this disease and outlook and viewpoint and all that is an essential piece to persevering.”

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 each day. This was a never-ending cycle of injections, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a board certified endocrinologist.

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

“Automated systems began modifying insulin automatically, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ 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 straight to 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 therapies aimed at managing diabetes and delaying or modifying the disease itself are in development.

“The first immune-therapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was approved, and research into preserving or even substituting the body’s insulin-producing cells acquired real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” the doctor continued.

“Responsive insulin” is also being engineered 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 emerge. We’re no longer just improving tools; we’re getting nearer to transforming the disease itself,” the expert concluded.

However, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — physically, cognitively, and emotionally.

“I sincerely hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the challenges and the requirements of having and managing T1D. We need much more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

Beyond 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 living with this disease and even if you’re very diligent with 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 difficult to do at times, he said he learned to practice this early during his diagnosis.

Recently, he has prioritized taking vitamins, caring for his skin, and staying well-hydrated.

“It’s a simple thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are more stable. 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 emphasis 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 physical, cognitive, and emotional health.

“It really centers 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 film set or something,” he said.

He relies on his therapist frequently, too.

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

Above all, he encourages 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 mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really motivate anybody that’s going through difficult times,” he concluded.