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

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

“It’s crazy how it lined up,” 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 blessed to be able to do this for 20 years now and to have the support of the most amazing fans.”

Alongside the band’s experience over the last two decades, he said he has had wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the low points, while advocating and connecting with others through his role and through his foundation have been a source of happiness.

“In summary, I’m really thankful to have been able to be open about [type 1] and to connect with all these amazing people from all corners of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes journey, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” said Jonas.

The Singer's A1C Announcement to His Audience

To show appreciation to supporters, on World Diabetes Day (November 14), he stepped onto the platform during a Jonas Brothers concert and surprised his audience by sharing an inspiring 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 best it’s ever been, in fact, most recently,” said Jonas.

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 promote a message of strength, determination, and positivity.

“It was really special for me to get to use the Jonas Brothers’ stage 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 reflective and to tap into 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 at the start of his career and diabetes experience, to those living with 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 meaning 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 different moments. I think my outlook is perhaps a lot more optimistic now. It is feasible to live a big, busy 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 meant more than five daily shots a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a never-ending cycle of needles, guesswork, and vigilance, according to a licensed endocrinologist.

“Insulin pumps superseded multiple daily insulin injections.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

“Automated systems began modifying insulin on their own, creating combined ‘automated delivery’ systems that lift some of the mental burden people with type 1 bear every day.”

Jonas is impressed with how far technology has improved 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.

In addition to 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 authorized, and research into protecting or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real momentum. In labs around the world, scientists are cultivating stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and experimenting with ways to protect them from immune attack,” 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.

“More advancements will absolutely continue to emerge. We’re no longer just enhancing devices; we’re getting closer to changing the disease itself,” the physician stated.

However, while a family physician agrees that additional innovations will continue to appear, he notes that managing type 1 diabetes remains an demanding undertaking — physically, mentally, and psychologically.

“I truly hope that we’ll see more and more focus to talking about and addressing the burdens and the demands of living with and controlling T1D. We need far more of that, too,” he told.

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Control His Diabetes

In addition to medication and technology, Jonas discussed 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 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 difficult to do at times, he said he learned to apply this early during his diagnosis.

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

“It’s a basic thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are more stable. I don’t know exactly why, but I just find that drinking water has a lot of health advantages,” 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 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 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 take part in the diabetes community.

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