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- Nick Jonas was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes
- The singer/actor detected it at age 13 when he was ‘close to a coma’
- He’s an ambassador for a new medical device which lets diabetes patients easily monitor their glucose levels
Nick Jonas hit stardom around the same time he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. After a stint on Broadway at the age of 7, Nick and his older siblings, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas, formed the Jonas Brothers band and released their debut album in 2006, when Nick was the ripe old age of 13, which is when doctors detected his disease.
As an adult, Nick has often spoken out on his health battle to raise awareness for the condition among his legion of fans. In November 2022, he took to his Instagram and TikTok to share the four warning signs associated with a type 1 diabetes diagnosis: weight loss, excessive thirst, frequent urination and irritability. “I’m sharing my signs so that others can #SeeTheSigns,” he captioned the helpful clip.
In another example of his activism, Nick teamed up with the medical brand Dexcom to promote their new CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) device, which lets diabetes patients easily monitor their glucose levels. Nick even shot a Super Bowl commercial for it! Here’s everything to know about Nick’s health struggles, how he’s doing today, and more.
Nick Jonas Diagnosed With Diabetes
Nick has been an open book when it comes to his type 1 diabetes diagnosis, which was revealed after his family noticed he was drinking sugary soda, but losing weight, per People. His parents then sought him medical care and it was just in the nick of time. “I was very close to a coma,” the “Levels” hitmaker told the outlet in 2019. “Like a day away, if I hadn’t gone to the hospital.
“I kept asking my parents — am I going to be okay? I was just so concerned that it was going to limit my ability to do all the things I wanted to do,” Nick added. “I was very scared — it’s a big life change.” However, he soon learned it was a “very manageable disease” as long as the patient is “really diligent.”
He spoke more about the early stages of his battle in February, telling Rolling Stone that although is was a scary diagnosis, he knew he could use his platform to help his peers who were struggling with it. “It was frightening at first, because I didn’t have a total grip on on what my new reality was,” he admitted. “But I felt like I was already sort of in the public eye to a certain degree, and I wanted to normalize it for me and for people that followed me at the time.”
What Is Type 1 Diabetes?
Being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes means your pancreas creates little to no insulin, and requires regular medication, per the Center for Disease Control & Prevention. Without insulin, blood sugar can’t get into cells for use as energy and builds up in the bloodstream, which is damaging to the body and causes many of the symptoms and complications of diabetes, such as heart and blood vessel disease, nerve damage and kidney damage, per the outlet. It usually develops in children, teens, and young adults. Treatment is directed toward managing the amount of sugar in the blood using insulin, diet and lifestyle to prevent complications.
Type 1 diabetes is also much less common than type 2 diabetes, as about 5-10% of people with diabetes have type 1, according to the CDC. However, there is still no cure for type 1 diabetes.
How Long Has Nick Jonas Been Sick?
With his aforementioned early diagnosis, Nick has been aware of his type 1 diabetes for almost 20 years. “When I was first diagnosed, I was sitting in the hospital and was scared to death, honestly, while I was learning about how to manage this new thing I was dealing with,” Nick recalled to People.
As he has become more educated on the disease over the last two decades, Nick has felt the need to pass on the knowledge. Having lived with this disease for so long and taking those steps to prioritize a healthy life, I’m trying to encourage my fans to do the same,” he told the outlet.
How Is Nick Jonas Doing Today?
Now in his 30s, married to Priyanka Chopra and the father of a baby girl, Nick said he’s “feeling really good” about his diabetes diagnosis, according to his 2023 interview with Rolling Stone. “It can still be a little overwhelming, but collectively over the past couple of years, I’m in the best health that I’ve ever been in, and really, just taking it one step at a time,” he said, adding that “my friends and family and people I work with really helped me kind of manage it the best I can.”
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