Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a progressive and sight-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus, characterized by damage to the blood vessels in the retina. Early detection of DR is vital for timely intervention and effective management to prevent irreversible vision loss. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent advancements in integrating machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques for diagnosing DR, aiming to assist ophthalmologists in their manual diagnostic process. The paper presents a comprehensive definition of DR, elucidating the underlying pathological processes, clinical signs, and the various stages of DR classification, ranging from mild non-proliferative to severe proliferative DR. Integrating ML and DL in DR diagnosis has developed the field by offering automated and efficient methods and techniques to analyze retinal images. With high sensitivity and specificity, these techniques demonstrate their efficacy in accurately identifying DR-related lesions, such as microaneurysms, exudates, and hemorrhages. Furthermore, the paper examines diverse datasets employed in training and evaluating ML and DL models for DR diagnosis. These datasets range from publicly available repositories to specialized datasets curated by medical institutions. The role of large-scale and diverse datasets in enhancing model robustness and generalizability is emphasized.