Living With Diabetes
Diabetes affects people from every background—including actors, musicians, athletes, judges and public figures. Their stories can help reduce stigma and show that a diagnosis does not define what a person can achieve.
We include only people whose diabetes has been publicly disclosed and supported by reliable sources such as diabetes organizations, medical publications, established news organizations or the person's own public foundation. We do not include rumors, infer someone's diagnosis from appearance, or speculate about why a particular person developed diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin. People with type 1 diabetes need insulin to live. It is not caused by eating sugar, being overweight or having an unhealthy lifestyle.
Nick Jonas has publicly lived with type 1 diabetes since adolescence and has become one of the best-known public advocates for young people with the condition. Breakthrough T1D has repeatedly featured him in type 1 diabetes education and advocacy activities.
What his story illustrates: type 1 diabetes can be diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, and ongoing insulin treatment can coexist with a demanding professional life.
Sonia Sotomayor has publicly discussed living with type 1 diabetes since childhood. Breakthrough T1D educational materials identify her as having been diagnosed at about age 7.
What her story illustrates: long-term type 1 diabetes management can extend across decades of education, work and public service.
Alexander Zverev has said he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 4. His ATP biography also notes his lifelong diabetes, and he established the Alexander Zverev Foundation in 2022 to support children with diabetes and improve access to insulin and other essential treatment.
What his story illustrates: type 1 diabetes does not automatically prevent elite-level sport, although exercise requires careful planning around insulin, food and glucose monitoring.
Mary Tyler Moore was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1970 at age 33. She later became an influential diabetes advocate and served as JDRF International Chairman beginning in 1984.
What her story illustrates: type 1 diabetes can begin in adulthood as well as childhood, and patient advocacy can have an important role in research, education and public awareness.
Type 2 diabetes develops through a combination of impaired insulin action and progressive loss of adequate insulin secretion. Genetics, age, body composition, activity, sleep, medications, social factors and other influences may all contribute. It is inaccurate to reduce type 2 diabetes to a simple question of willpower or food choices.
Tom Hanks publicly disclosed his type 2 diabetes diagnosis in 2013 after years of elevated blood glucose. His announcement brought substantial public attention to the condition.
What his story illustrates: type 2 diabetes may develop after a period of abnormal glucose and can occur even when someone does not fit a stereotypical picture of diabetes.
Randy Jackson has publicly discussed living with type 2 diabetes and has worked with the American Diabetes Association on awareness campaigns, including the importance of eye health for people with diabetes.
What his story illustrates: diabetes care is broader than blood sugar alone; eye, heart, kidney and nerve health also matter.
Patti LaBelle has publicly discussed being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1994. She later became active in diabetes awareness and has spoken openly about changing how she approached food and health.
What her story illustrates: receiving a diagnosis can be emotionally difficult, and sustainable changes often take time rather than happening perfectly from the first day.
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different underlying biology. Gestational, monogenic and other forms of diabetes also exist.
People with diabetes work in sport, entertainment, law, medicine, business and nearly every other field.
One public figure may use insulin, another oral medication, another injectable treatment, and another a combination. Their plan is not automatically appropriate for someone else.
Glucose management is important, but so are blood pressure, cholesterol, kidney care, eye examinations, foot care, smoking status and other cardiovascular risks.
An older version of this page incorrectly stated that Nobel laureate George Minot was the first person treated with insulin.
The first person with diabetes to receive an insulin injection was Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old boy treated in Toronto in January 1922. George Minot later developed diabetes and benefited greatly from insulin, but he was not the first insulin-treated patient.
I think famous people can help reduce the fear and stigma around diabetes, especially when someone has just been diagnosed and wonders whether life will ever feel normal again.
But I would never want a patient to compare their HbA1c, weight, medicine, diet or complications with a celebrity. You rarely know the complete medical story behind a public interview.
What matters is your own diabetes type, your glucose pattern, your cardiovascular and kidney risk, the medicines you can safely use, and a treatment plan you can realistically follow.
Yes. Type 1 diabetes requires insulin and careful glucose management, but many people participate successfully in recreational and elite sport.
No. Type 2 diabetes is multifactorial. Genetics, age, insulin resistance, pancreatic beta-cell function, body composition, medications, activity and many other factors can contribute.
Yes. Type 1 diabetes can begin at any age. Adult-onset type 1 diabetes may sometimes initially be mistaken for type 2 diabetes.
No. Public stories can be encouraging, but treatment decisions should be based on your own diagnosis, laboratory results, health conditions and medical advice.