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An increasing number of young men are seeking treatment for erectile dysfunction normally associated with the middle-aged - because of their addiction to online porn.

Frequent exposure to graphic images and films is de-sensitising men in their late teens and early 20s, leaving them unable to get aroused in the bedroom, experts claim.

The problem is being exacerbated by the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, which are making pornography immediately accessible.

Angela Gregory, a psychosexual therapist, says she has seen a surge in young men attending her clinic at Nottingham University Hospital .

"What I've seen over the last 16 years, particularly the last five years, is an increase in the amount of younger men being referred," she said.

"Our experience is that historically men that were referred to our clinic with problems with erectile dysfunction were older men whose issues were related to diabetes, MS, cardio vascular disease.

"These younger men do not have organic disease, they've already been tested by their GP and everything is fine.

"So one of the first assessment questions I'd always ask now is about pornography and masturbatory habit because that can be the cause of their issues about maintaining an erection with a partner."

(Image: Pornhub)

The issue was exposed by a new documentary by the BBC's Newsbeat called 'Brought up on Porn'.

Researchers spoke to a young man named only as 'Nick' who first started watching porn on a laptop aged 15.

He found that, despite wanting to have sex with 'real world' partners, he was unable to because he was "wired to porn".

"At my peak I was probably watching up to two hours of porn every day," he said.

"What I was watching, it definitely got more extreme over a short period of time in my case.

"There was nothing that would give me a kick. Normal stuff didn't do anything any more, so I had to get more and more extreme material.

"[It was] disturbing stuff that disturbed me that, in normal life, I wouldn't dream of doing.

"It wasn't long before Nick's own sexual health began to suffer.

"I found that when I was lying next to a girl a lot that I just wouldn't be horny at all, despite being really attracted to the girl and wanting to have sex with her, [because] my sexuality was completely wired towards porn."

Nick sought help from a doctor and eventually cured himself by going 100 days without watching porn.

He said: "My libido came back with a vengeance and I met this girl and it was great.

"For the first time in ages I was able to flirt and within quite a short time I was able to have normal sex. I was feeling so balanced and happy."

According to a 2014 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, one out of every four new erectile dysfunction patients was under 40.

A new US study in the Behavioural Sciences Journal claims that online porn mirrors drug-like addiction qualities, leading to lowered sexual "enjoyment" and diminished limbo.

The report adds: "The potential health risks of internet pornography are not as well understood as those for alcohol and tobacco use, and (it) is widely portrayed as both ordinary behaviour and socially acceptable."