Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska ran for Vice President of the United States in 2008. She had a baby with Down Syndrome which is also called Trisomy 21. Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes for a total of 46 chromosomes. People with Down Syndrome have an extra number 21 chromosome for a total of 47. It happens in about 1 in 1,000 live births.
People with Down Syndrome look a special way. They usually have a face that is a little flatter and eyes that slant upward. They can also have difficulty learning, and certain medical problems such as a problem with their heart.
People with Down Syndrome can go to regular schools, have friends and have a job.
A calorie is a unit of heat. It usually refers to the amount of food a person's body uses each day to make it work. If a person eats more calories than they use each day, the extra calories are stored on the body as fat. If they eat less calories than their body uses, they loose weight. Exercise helps you burn up extra calories.
Some germs are called bacteria. When people cough and sneeze, germs get on their hands. When their hands touch a keyboard, a light switch, or a door knob, they leave germs that get on our hands when we touch those places. If we we put our hands into our mouth without first washing our hands, we'll get sick.
Pets have germs too. So one of the best ways to not get sick is to wash your hands before you eat or before you put your hand in your mouth.
When tobacco is burned for smoking, it releases hundreds of toxic chemicals into the lungs of people who smoke. Even people in the same room who are not smoking get some of those chemicals.
Smoking can damage lungs and can lead to lung cancer. Some of the chemicals in tobacco smoke can addict a person so they have to keep smoking. This can happen even after one cigarette. Doctors estimate that every cigarette a person smokes shortens their life by about 7 minutes. It also makes their teeth yellow, their clothes smell and makes them short of breath.
Some people think smoking a hookah, or water pipe, is a safer way to smoke, but it isn't true. A hookah makes a person inhale about 5 times as much of the chemicals as ordinary smoking. 
