Health of young men ‘harmed by watching web porn’

ONLINE pornography is damaging the sexual health of young men, a senior psychosexual therapist has warned.

Males in their late teens and early 20s are increasingly likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, with experts blaming the problem on the spread of online porn.

Angela Gregory, a men’s sexual health specialist at Nottingham University Hospital, said that young men who are addicted to watching graphic footage become desensitised and unable to be aroused by normal sexual behaviour.

It is easier than ever to become addicted as pornography is so easily accessible on smartphones, tablets and laptops, she warned.

‘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 told the BBC.

Erectile problems are most common in older men, particularly those with health problems affecting circulation. But a 2014 study found one in four new erectile dysfunction patients was under 40.

Miss Gregory 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 [multiple sclerosis] or cardiovascular disease.

‘These younger men do not have an 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… because that can be the cause of their issues about maintaining an erection with a partner.’

The Mail has campaigned for automatic blocks on online porn to protect under-18s. It was announced in the Queen’s Speech that the UK Government will require pornographic sites to verify users are over 18.

In June, a report found children as young as 11 were being ‘stripped of their childhoods’ and warped by online porn.

A survey of more than 1,000 children by the NSPCC and the Children’s Commissioner for England found 94 per cent of 14-year-olds had seen R-rated films or photographs.