Kids Health Notes

Junior Celebrity Health: Nick of Jonas Brothers has type 1 diabetes; updated with quotable quotes from Nick

by Grace on June 9th, 2008

“I had an emotional breakdown since I really had no idea what diabetes was all about.”

That’s what Nick Jonas, the youngest member of the famous Jonas Brothers, felt when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2005. His symptoms were classic- he was thirsty all the time, lost a lot of weight and was uncharacteristically moody. On diagnosis, his sugar level was at a skyrocketing 700. Nick had to spend days in the hospital learning how to manage his diabetes, including giving himself insulin injections.

Adds Nick, “I wondered, ‘why me?’” He was worried that diabetes was going to keep him from performing, just at a time when his career as part of the Jonas Brothers band was ramping up.

Then he asked himself, “‘why not me?’ and realized that I might be able to help other kids with diabetes.”

And that’s exactly what he did. The Jonas Brothers were at the Diabetes Research Institute last March (his confession seen here) and talked to children about the disease, on top of a live concert from the band.

“I want to let kids know that it doesn’t have to be so hard. The most important thing is to never ever let yourself get down about having diabetes, because you can live a really great life as a kid with diabetes.”

UPDATE: Since posting this on Monday, I was able to dig up more recent, detailed interviews that Nick did, talking about his diabetes. I took some quotable quotes:

“Hopefully one day they’ll come up with some type of cure, and I hope I’ll be one of the first to know about it.” Diabetes Health - Nick tells his story.

“At first it was really hard on all of us because we didn’t know how it would affect our daily lives. I actually asked my doctor if I could die.” - when a 12YO asked Nick how his family handled the news.

For more information about the Diabetes Research Institute, www.diabetesresearch.org.

This post is part of the Health and Wellness Celebrity Health Week.
source: press release; image: newscom

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POSTED IN: Celebrities, Children's Health, Diseases and Medical Conditions, Genetic and Metabolic Disorders