If you don’t have diabetes, it may seem like a problem that other people have that you don’t need to worry about. After all, it’s not contagious. But even if you don’t have diabetes, you may be on course for getting it and not even realize it.

Most people buy into the myth that people with type 2 diabetes essentially “brought it on themselves,” but that’s simply not true a lot of the time. While lifestyle factors like physical activity play into it, so does genetics. So if diabetes runs in your family, it may not take much for you to get it yourself.

Also, don’t think that if you avoid eating too much sugar you’re safe. Type 2 diabetes happens when the body is unable to use insulin, and eventually is unable to produce insulin, and eating sugar doesn’t have anything to do with that.

Many people think that once they get diabetes, they can get rid of it through healthy diet and exercise. While that will certainly help, Type 2 diabetes can’t be permanently cured. Even with blood glucose at levels that are close to normal, diabetes will constantly be a risk throughout your life.

Don’t judge diabetic people who eat sweets. There is not such thing as a “diabetes diet.” Everyone who has the disease is different.

“Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal,” the CDC states on its website. “Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood.”