What are the symptoms of acute mountain sickness?

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) typically presents with a range of symptoms as a result of reduced oxygen levels at high altitudes. The most common symptoms include a headache, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms arise due to the body's struggle to acclimatize to the lower oxygen environment, leading to various physiological responses such as increased intracranial pressure and disrupted balance of fluids in the body.

While dizziness and fatigue can also be associated with high altitudes, they are not as definitive to acute mountain sickness as the trio of headache, nausea, and vomiting. Symptoms such as chest pain and breathing difficulty may indicate more severe altitude-related conditions, such as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), and are not characteristic of AMS itself. Similarly, joint pain and swelling are not recognized symptoms of AMS and may be attributed to other conditions or injuries unrelated to altitude. Therefore, the combination of headache, nausea, and vomiting accurately identifies the primary symptoms associated with acute mountain sickness.