Autoimmune diseases can affect just about every part of the body – and tens of millions of people. While most common in women, these diseases can strike anyone, adults or children, and they’re on the rise. New research is raising the prospect of treatments that might do more than tamp down symptoms. Dozens of clinical trials are testing ways to reprogram immune systems, with some promising early successes against lupus, myositis and other illnesses. Other researchers are hunting ways to at least delay brewing autoimmune diseases.