We’re all living longer. Instead of struggling to stay young, why not learn to age well? | Devi Sridhar

While the ultra-wealthy spend millions on bizarre elixirs, the rest of us can follow these simple steps to enjoy a better life

In the words of Taylor Swift, I might be feeling 22" but the reality is that my 39th birthday approaches and with that the slow creep to 40: official midlife territory. The desire to stay young feels like a universal pursuit, whether you are Swift, Madonna or Jeff Bezos. Indeed, it is an obsession that transcends the centuries: in 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida while searching for the fountain of youth and eternal life.

Fast forward just more than 500 years and American tech centimillionaire Bryan Johnson is on his own voyage of discovery. Johnson reportedly spends $2m (1.6m) a year on an intensive regime designed to reduce his biological age from 45 to 18. He recently made headlines for injecting himself with his 17-year-old son's plasma, after studies in mice showed young blood can rejuvenate old tissue.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh