Nick jonas biography type 1 diabetes song

At 13 years old, Nick Jonas was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. A member of a boy band at the time, Jonas immediately started using his fame to shine a light on the disease.

Most notably, the Jonas Brothers’ 2008 song “A Little Bit Longer” touches on his years of struggling with the disease, and empowers those diagnosed with diabetes not to feel defeated.

“‘A Little Bit Longer’ was a song I was really happy to write,” Jonas, now 22, tells EW.

“Probably in a lot of ways, it’s been therapeutic for me.”

And even though he’s on his own now, Jonas says his fight with diabetes continues to inspire his music.

Type 1 diabetes life expectancy

“It’s really shaped who I am as a person,” the “Jealous” singer says. “It has an effect on my creative life, the way I approach writing songs and doing all that.”

While sharing his struggles with diabetes publicly was a risk, Jonas has become a role model to young fans who suffer similarly.

And the fan