Actress and model Brooke Shields revealed she suffered a grand mal seizure in September. In an interview, Ms. Shields revealed that the seizure caused her to lose control of her movements, froth at the mouth, and eventually lose consciousness. The actress doesn’t have a history of seizures—and many people reading her story may be wondering if they’re also at risk.
“Grand mal,” which means “great sickness” in French, is actually the old term for what’s now called a tonic-clonic seizure. These seizures involve both stiffening (tonic) and twitching (clonic) muscle movements. It’s just one type of seizure a person can experience.
