Jonas connects with diabetics
BEYOND TYPE 1: Singer vocal about not letting disease hinder ability to pursue career
Pop star Nick Jonas — who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 13 — took time out of his busy tour schedule this week to meet with several young members of Vancouver’s diabetic community, as part of his ongoing advocacy work to raise awareness about the disease.
“It’s really great,” Jonas said Wednesday during the Vancouver stop of his Future Now co-headlining tour with Demi Lovato at Rogers Arena. “It’s interesting to meet other diabetics — it’s kind of about speaking the same language, in a way. There are certain diabetic jokes and lingo that only people who, I feel, are truly in the mix — family members, friends, diabetics themselves — only they really know that lingo, so it’s nice in that sense.”
The 23-year-old performer is perhaps most well known for being a member of Disney’s mouse machine pop brigade, performing alongside brothers Joe and Kevin as the Jonas Brothers from 2005 to 2013 before the group disbanded. Following that, he transitioned into a Justin Timberlake-esque solo career, returning with a sexier, slicker pop-R&B sound. His latest album, Last Year Was Complicated, was released in June.
Jonas was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) a decade ago and since then has been vocal about not letting the disease hinder his ability to pursue his career. In early 2015, Jonas also co-founded Beyond Type 1, an advocacy group that aims to raise awareness about diabetes, fundraises for a possible cure, and encourages those with diabetes not only to live, but to thrive.
For each of the Canadian stops of his 2016 summer tour, Jonas, Beyond Type 1, and Sun Life Financial have hosted meet-and-greets with local diabetics to try to build a community of support for those living with the disease.
When Jonas was diagnosed, he and his brothers were on tour, loading their own gear, performing in high school auditoriums and were nearly in debt trying to get their careers off the ground. At the time, Jonas didn’t know any other diabetics he could turn to for advice on how to deal with the diagnosis.
“To be laying in a hospital bed, not knowing what was happening to my life? There was no one I could look at and say, ‘Oh, they’re doing all they want to do while living with diabetes and accomplishing all their goals. I can do the same,’ ” Jonas said.
“And there was no one in my immediate circle, either, that was a diabetic that I knew of, so I’m hopeful that whoever that young person out there may be dealing with this, feeling alone … that they’ll be able to look at me in some sense and say, ‘There’s someone who’s living their best life and doing what they want to do while living with this disease.’ ”
Diabetes is a condition in which a body is either unable to produce any or enough insulin, leading to imbalanced levels of blood sugar. Left untreated, diabetes can result in heart, kidney, or eye disease, as well as nerve damage. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, more than three million Canadians have diabetes and countless more are considered pre-diabetic and at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
While there is no cure for either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, Type 2 can often be managed with lifestyle choices, diet, exercise, and medication. Individuals with Type 1, however, are dependent on insulin injections for life.
“I think my life with diabetes has been one of just trying to be patient and be aware of the fact that I’m going to have days that are complicated,” said Jonas.
“You see very quickly that it’s a manageable disease but there are days that are hard to predict and you don’t know what’s going to happen so being patient with yourself and understanding that, being open about those tough moments will actually bring you closer to the people you’re trying to inspire or connect with.”