The problem, according to Harrist's urologist, Larry L. Lipshultz, MD, is low-quality sperm. Lipshultz is the director of the first U.S. clinical trial for the dietary supplement. Researchers are eager to find out if it works as they gain more knowledge into the nature of male infertility. ProXeed also is being tested at The Jones Institute of Reproductive Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va., site of the nation's first in vitro fertilization procedure. In healthy people, levocarnitine is responsible for carrying fats into cells and also is a source of fuel, according to proXeed's manufacturer.
Fats are the major source of energy for sperm movement.
ProXeed also contains fructose, a major energy-yielding substance in semen, and citric acid, a key intermediary in energy production, according to the company. Doctors couldn't find anything wrong with Laurie Harrist, so two years ago, they asked her husband to come in for an exam. Harrist was shocked when he found out he flunked his sperm test. The normal male is supposed to have between 60 million and 120 million sperm per milliliter of semen. Harrist's count was only 180,000 per milliliter.