What Is Grand Mal Epilepsy?
Grand mal epilepsy is a type of seizure disorder. A person may be said to have grand mal epilepsy if he loses consciousness during a seizure and experiences severe body jerking, which is caused by muscle contractions. Though there are different types of seizures, many people are most familiar with the grand mal type. These are the seizures that are most often depicted on television shows, and they may draw the most attention if a person is stricken with one in public. Epilepsy is caused by changes in the normal activity of nerve cells in the brain. Interestingly, a person may also have a grand mal seizure without having epilepsy. An individual could have a seizure in response to a medication or because of a stroke, for example. In most cases, however, a person who has grand mal seizures also has epilepsy.
