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This year, the number 20 holds particular meaning for renowned artist Nick Jonas.

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

“The alignment is remarkable,” Jonas remarked. “It’s been a wild journey in both… regarding the band, it’s been the adventure 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 wonderful and challenging moments managing diabetes. The difficulties of controlling his disease have been the lows, while raising awareness and engaging others as a spokesperson and through his non-profit have been a source of happiness.

“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 regions of the world who are experiencing their own diabetes path, and it’s a really big thing to feel like you’re a little less isolated in it,” he added.

The Singer's A1C Announcement to Fans

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, accompanied by a mention to his A1C.

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

The show was attended by members of a global community — a collective of over 30,000 people globally who share their experiences with diabetes to help promote a message of strength, perseverance, and optimism.

“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 personal to me and on World Diabetes Day, I think it’s natural to get reflective and to tap into kind of what life looks like for me as a now 33-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 journey, to those affected by 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 impact it still has to this day with the fan base,” he said.

While the song has taken on a new meaning for him as an adult, he said it is still pertinent.

“Now I [have] this great, big community that I belong to that has lifted me up in so many various 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 outlook and perspective and all that is an essential piece to powering through.”

Advancements in Diabetes Management

In the past, life with type 1 diabetes involved more than five insulin injections a day and glucose checks 10 or more times each day. This was a constant cycle of needles, estimation, and care, as stated by a board certified 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 automatically, creating hybrid ‘artificial pancreas’ systems that alleviate some of the mental burden people with type 1 carry every day.”

Jonas is impressed with how far technology has advanced since he was first identified.

“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 who I’m traveling away from is just an incredible thing,” he said.

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

“The first immunotherapy capable of delaying type 1’s start was authorized, and research into preserving or even replacing the body’s insulin-producing cells gained real traction. In labs around the world, scientists are growing stem-cell–derived pancreatic beta cells and testing ways to protect them from immune attack,” said the specialist.

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

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

Nevertheless, while another medical professional concurs that further advancements will continue to appear, he points out that managing type 1 diabetes remains an intensive task — in terms of health, mentally, and psychologically.

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

The Singer Employs Personal Wellness to Manage His Diabetes

In addition to 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 perfect day while managing this disease and even if you’re very diligent with your diabetes management, there are just things that are a little out of your control and being able to take a deep breath, reset, 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 practice this early during his diagnosis.

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

“It’s a simple thing, but the more water I drink, my glucose levels are better. I don’t know precisely 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 takes 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 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 vital to do that self-work,” Jonas said.

Above all, he urges everyone living with type 1 diabetes to engage with the diabetes community.

“There will be good days, there will be challenging days, but you can climb this mountain, and there’s some remarkable people out there whose experiences will really inspire anybody that’s going through tough moments,” said Jonas.