Daily Buzz 3/29/07

Nick Jonas talks to the crowd about his diabetes diagnosis

Yep. As he recently revealed at the March 11 Diabetes Research Institute's Carnival for a Cure fund-raising event in New York, Nick has type 1 diabetes, a disease that results when the body does not produce the hormone insulin, which is needed to convert sugar into energy.

As Nick told the crowd that day, he was diagnosed while on tour in November 2005. He'd been grappling with many of the classic symptoms of the disease: He was thirsty all the time, had lost a lot of weight, and was acting uncharacteristically moody.

When he first heard the news from the doc about his diagnosis, Nick says: "I had an emotional breakdown, since I really had no idea what diabetes was all about. I wondered, Why me? Then I asked myself, Why not me? and realized that I might be able to help other kids with diabetes."

And that's exactly what he's doing! "At first, I was worried that diabetes would keep me from performing and recording and doing everything a teenager likes to do, but my career is really ramping up," he says. "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."

For more information about the Diabetes Research Institute and what Nick is contending with, check out www.diabetesresearch.org

Next week, Tony Bennett will help shepherd the remaining nine through an "American classics" themed show. Should be interesting to see Blake pull off a classic. Stay tuned....