What is a "generalized seizure"?

What is a "generalized seizure"?

Charles Ribak, Ph.D. (Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UC Irvine School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: What happens to the brain and body during a generalized seizure?; What do I do if I think I'm going to have a generalized seizure?; What do I do if I see someone having a generalized seizure? and more...

With regards to generalized seizures, according to the new nomenclature that has been used in the last 1-15 years, a generalized seizure is a seizure that starts in one particular part of the body and then generalizes throughout the entire body. So for example, you might have an arm that starts shaking uncontrollably, and then this would then progress to a generalized seizure where all of the body would be involved in a generalized convulsion. So this is the so-called "grand mal seizure." It used to be called the "grand mal seizure." That type of terminology is not used by the doctors these days. Instead, the term that is most often used is "generalized seizure."