Ageist much? I have met quite a few octogenarians and nonagenarians who, given the ill-considered nature of your comment, are probably quite a bit sharper than you are.
Conversely, I've met many, many more stupid 30-year-olds than I have 80-year-olds. The thing about stupidity is that eventually it will catch up with you.
Sharper than me? Yah,could be.I lost my 95 year old aunt a few years ago who was sharp as a tack until a couple of years before her death.I also have a sister in law who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in her late 60's.I,like you,have a background in medicine.Yours is (partially,at least) in ER nursing.Mine is in ER Administration...large Boston hospital.Assuming you have access to these journals' online services perhaps you'd do a keyword search of JAMA,NEJM, The Lancet,Archives of General Psychiatry,Brain,Neurology and others and see if you can come up with studies demonstrating how common,or uncommon,signs of early (or not so early) neuropsychiatric deterioration is in 79 year old white males.I'd do it just to satisfy my own curiosity but I left the hospital years ago and no longer have access to such databases.