More than 100 autoimmune diseases currently affect 50 million Americans. And in general, there are no cures.

That, says the Cleveland Clinic, is because we're not sure why your immune system turns on you and attacks healthy cells and tissue, as if they were outside invaders that will cause sickness.

The most common autoimmune conditions are lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, inflammatory bowel disease, Addison's disease, Sjogren's syndrome, Graves' disease, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

And while great strides have been made in managing these diseases and their symptoms, slowing progression and improving quality of life for people who contend with them, it's always great news to find out that there is a simple, safe way to ease symptoms.

A recent study published in the journal BMC Medicine found that taking probiotic supplements safely improves the symptoms of celiac disease, systemic lupus erythematosus (the most common form of lupus) and lupus nephritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriasis, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, systemic sclerosis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.

Probiotics may help because they can tamp down the effects of certain harmful bacteria in the small intestine that can migrate to various organs in the body, causing an autoimmune response, according to a 2019 Yale study in the journal Science.