  We review recent work on thermal resonances and their connection with chiral
symmetry and $U(1)_A$ restoration within the QCD phase diagram. In particular,
the $f_0(500)$ and $K_0^* (700)$ states generated from $\pi\pi$ and $\pi K$
scattering within Unitarized Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) at finite
temperature allow one to describe scalar susceptibilities, which combined with
Ward Identities yield interesting conclusions regarding the interplay between
chiral and $U(1)_A$ restoration, key to understand the nature of the transition
