# Physical Activity Programmes in the Treatment of Addictions: A Systematic Review
## 4 Discussion
In addition, it has been shown that physical exercise can stimulate the production of proteins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, an element that helps neuroplasticity, neurogenesis/plasticity, neuroimmune signalling and the neural vasculature, all of which play a role in addiction [41]. Moreover, in addition to the application of physical activity interventions as a complementary treatment for addiction to alcohol and smoking, programmes have also been similarly applied for drug addiction (substance abuse). One of the toxic substances with greater addiction potential is methamphetamine. People addicted to these substances show a deterioration of their cognitive functions and deficient psychological well-being. Therefore, cognitive function must be considered an important element in the treatment of methamphetamine dependence [42]. Interventions such as yoga can reduce the intake of substances, alleviate stress and help people with addiction to recover their normal lives [43]. In the same vein, numerous studies have demonstrated the positive effects of yoga in patients addicted to opium, heroin, alcohol and smoking, including the improvement of the body-mind environment, depressive symptoms and emotional state and a decrease in anxiety [44; 45; 46]. One of the studies included in this review, i.e., the one conducted by [PERSON] et al. [27], concluded that people who carry out a physical activity programme with yoga for the treatment of addiction to substances have better physical condition and mental health than those who perform the usual physical rehabilitation method, thus improving their adherence to the treatment. Other interventions in the same vein, applying similar programmes such as Tai Chi, have also shown that, in the long term, they can be a complementary, low-cost potential treatment for people addicted to amphetamine stimulants [23]. That is, yoga, Tai Chi, meditation and other relaxation therapies decrease sympathetic activity, decrease sympathetic-adrenal reactivity and improve parasympathetic production. In turn, they can decrease the prevalence and severity of vasomotor disorders and sleep alteration, thereby enhancing the effect of adherence to conventional treatments for substance abuse [47]. In addition to yoga and Tai Chi, moderate-intensity aerobic-anaerobic training combined with group behavioural training has been shown to be an effective programme for people addicted to substances, improving their coping skills, resilience and physical aptitude, with 100% adherence to exercise [22]. The improvement of coping skills could be related to the fact that physical and sports activities are also estimated to be an important tool for the social inclusion of people at risk of social exclusion [48]. At the behavioural level, physical activity also plays an important role in addictions, since it promotes factors such as motivation or habit [49]. However, another work included in this study [24] demonstrated that people who received a physical activity intervention with the treatment of addiction did not improve their results in the abandonment of alcohol or drugs or in their lifestyles compared to those who only received treatment for addiction. These contradicting results could be due to the intervention time. It was observed that, in most of the studies that applied physical activity interventions and in which there were no dissimilarities between the experimental and control groups, the intervention time was shorter than in studies that reported differences [50]. Lastly, it is important to highlight that this work presents some limitations, such as the relative paucity of studies that have analysed the research question of this review. In addition, the search was performed only on open-access articles and in the English and Spanish languages. Despite the difficulty in generalising the results found, this review shows that the research question is recent, and studies related to this topic have been carried out in very few countries.